Norrie riles Nadal but he can’t make it count

CAM NORRIE was outclassed by Rafael Nadal at the French Open but at least he did not act like an obliging house guest at the Spaniard’s spiritual home.

The British No 2 went down 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in their third-round encounter, but not before he’d complained about his opponent’s painfully slow play to umpire Louise Engzell.

Some players indulge Nadal’s t i mekeeping but t wice during changeovers there were three-way exchanges which resulted in the chair telling the 13-time champion to stay within the limits.

The match heated up early in the second set when Norrie broke the clay master twice in succession and tried to get the game speeded up. The gulf between the two lefthanders was too wide, however, and he could never build on his advantage at 2-0 and 3-1.

‘He does a good job of managing the time when I’m servi ng,’ observed Norrie afterwards. ‘The rule is that you have to play to the server’s speed. I’m one bounce and I go. He was not ready a couple times and I had to play a little bit to his speed when I was serving.’

Nadal, whose reputation for slow play goes before him, was sensitive about the issue but said he had nothing to apologise for.

‘ Sometimes I think he was trying to speed up the situations, to put some pressure. I don’t think I did anything bad. I didn’t complain at all when he was throwing his ball bad for 20 times,’ said the Spaniard.

‘The umpire just told me that I need to be quicker because he was ready. OK, if he wants to put that pressure, I just accept it.’

In the end, Norrie was rightfully pleased with the way he fought and did not claim that the dispute was the difference between winning and losing.

‘I don’t think he was doing anything on purpose, I just think that’s the way he is with the routines,’ said Norrie.

Nadal does tend to be given some leeway — just as it seems he has been when it comes to the size of his entourage at Roland Garros.

The original instructions stated that, with Covid restrictions, each player in the singles main draw was only allowed two accreditations. Not that it would have made a material difference to yesterday’s outcome, but watching Nadal in his box was a group of eight, including his wife, mother, father, sister and public relations adviser.

It will be interesting to see if Wimbledon allow such a flexible interpret ation of their preset limits.

Norrie, 25, now heads home after months away, and will go to SW19 via Queen’s, which starts a week on Monday. He will do so armed with 25 victories at tour level this year and clearly with a burgeoning reputation within the locker room.

Indeed, Nadal said: ‘I saw before the match that his position in the race for this year is 13th, so that shows how many matches he has won. I was pleased to win in straight sets.’

Like two battleships on collision course, the Spaniard and Novak Djokovic are moving inexorably towards each other for a clash in the semi-final.

Djokovic wasted little time hammering Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis to make the fourth round for the 12th consecutive time. It is hard to imagine him losing now to Grand Slam debutant Lorenzo Musetti.

The 19- year- old is one of two Italian teenagers who have made it to the fourth round, the other being the much-touted Jannik Sinner.

Sinner, who gave Nadal his toughest match in October’s 2020 edition en route to the Paris title, will now play him again.

Women’s defending champion Iga Swiatek, now the clear favourite to win the title and in the opposite half to Serena Williams, was tested by Anett Kontaveit before winning 7-6, 6-0. Coco Gauff equalled her best showing at a Major when she also made the fourth round as opponent Jennifer Brady retired.

An improved week after a lean spell for Jamie Murray and partner Bruno Soares came to an end when they were beaten in the third round of the doubles 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 by claycourt experts Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau.

• Britain’s Alfie Hewett described his comeback victory over Gustavo Fernandez in the men’s wheelchair semi-final as ‘the match of my life’.

The defending champion trailed 5-1 in the decider and then faced three match points in the tie-break only to pull off a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 win.