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Cameron Norrie replies to invitation from Newcastle United owners – Wimbledon hero on the rise

2 years ago
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Cameron Norrie is on the rise.

The 26 year old tennis player now a household name after his success this past week and a half at Wimbledon.

Despite rising to as high as number 10 in the World in April (2022), Cameron Norrie having a surprisingly low profile outside of mainstream tennis fans.

Very competitive and consistent, including four career tournament wins, he had become a tough competitor.

However, in the big high profile events, the four grand slams (Wimbledon, French open, US open and Australian open), Cameron Norrie had never gone past the third round in any of them. Until now.

A thrilling five set win on Tuesday has taken Norrie into the Wimbledon semi-finals, where he will now play favourite Novak Djokovic.

After last night’s brilliant victory Cameron Norrie received an invitation from the Newcastle United owners via Mehrdad Ghodoussi:

Now Norrie has replied:

Cameron Norrie has an interesting background, born to British (Scottish and Welsh) parents in South Africa, moving to New Zealand at the age of three, university in the United States, then eventually settling in London as his tennis career took off.

Still not sure what the connection was/is but Cameron Norrie when asked to list his interests (see official LTA site below for example) always lists Newcastle United,  as well as South Sydney Rabbitohs (rugby league) and All Blacks (rugby union) as the teams he supports in other sports.

Only two matches away now from being crowned Wimbledon champion and best of luck to Toon fan Cameron Norrie when he takes on Djokovic, before hopefully appearing in Sunday’s final.

The only real negative for Cameron Norrie this past couple of weeks (apart from Newcastle United not adding to Targett, Pope and Botman in this window so far…), is the fact that due to the banning of Russian and Belarus players, this Wimbledon tournament won’t see any world ranking points handed out.

Cameron Norrie went into this Wimbledon tournament ranked twelfth in the World and your ranking is based on points picked up in the last year. So basically, your ranking points from a tournament replace the points you picked up from it 12 months earlier. In 2021, Cameron Norrie lost in the third round to the all time great Roger Federer, so having already now reached the Wimbledon semis, the Newcastle United fan would have been looking at a huge jump in world ranking points, especially as the four grand slams carry far more points than the other tournaments. Currently twelfth in the World, by my calculations I think Cameron Norrie would be heading for at least eighth already on his wins so far this past week and a half.

However, I don’t think he will care that much if four weeks before Newcastle United kick off their season, Cameron Norrie is crowned Wimbledon champion on Sunday afternoon.

It goes without saying that if his playing schedule allows, having Cameron Norrie as a guest for the Nottingham Forest opening match on Saturday 6 August would be a no-brainer.

From the official LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) site:

QUICK-FIRE FACTS

Nickname: Noz

Place of birth: Johannesburg, South Africa

Lives: London

Trains: National Tennis Centre and Fort Worth (where he went to university)

Favourite tournament: Wimbledon

Tennis idols: Andre Agassi and Rafa Nadal

Likes: Going to the beach, listening to music, hanging out with friends. He supports South Sydney Rabbitohs (rugby league), All Blacks (rugby union) and Newcastle United. If he wasn’t a tennis player he’d work in real estate.
Family: Father is called David (who is Scottish) and mother is called Helen (who is Welsh). Both were born in Great Britain and played squash to university level before moving to New Zealand. His sister is called Bronwen.

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