Cameron – Early tomorrow morning, Rod Laver Arena will stage the clash between world no. 2 Rafael Nadal and Cameron Norrie. Heading to the Australian Open without wins in Melbourne in the previous two years, Cameron defeated his compatriot Daniel Evans and a qualifier Romas Safiullin to reach the third round and repeat his best result at Majors achieved at the last year’s US Open.
Cameron said he could text Andy Murray for some tips on playing against Rafa, calling the Spaniard the legend of the game and a human being that makes mistakes. Struggling with a back injury, Nadal had to play quick and aggressive tennis in the opening two rounds against Laslo Djere and Michael Mmoh, beating both rivals in straight sets and under two hours to preserve energy ahead of the next clash.
Rafael Nadal will face Cameron Norrie in the Australian Open third round.
The Spaniard defeated Michael Mmoh 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 47 minutes for his 284th Major victory. Rafa lost only 12 points behind the initial shot and stayed away from troubles in his games.
He broke Mmoh five times and grabbed five breaks to control the scoreboard, adding 40 winners and 24 unforced errors to his tally to sail into the third round. Rafa is trying to win the record-breaking 21st Major title, matching Roger Federer’s record in Paris last October and hoping to pass the Swiss in 2021.
“I mean, that would be a good thing to do; I’m going to leave the game plan up to my coach, but maybe message Andy and see what his thoughts are. We play pretty different tennis, me being a lefty, but he’s got some good tips in there.
I think Nadal hasn’t got many weaknesses, and I’m just going to have to do what I do as well as I can and implement my game and try to play the points on my terms. Otherwise, if he’s the one dictating, it’s going to be tough, and I’m going to be running around a lot.
Rafa is such a legend of the game, but he is just another player on Saturday night. He’s a human being; I need to go out there and give it to him and see what happens,” Cameron Norrie said.