Tennis, Wimbledon: Norrie beats Goffin and now finds Djokovic in the semifinal

The British Cameron Norrie will contend with Novak Djokovic for the place of finalist at the top of the scoreboard who, on the number 1 field of Wimbledon, overcame the Belgian David Goffin 3-6 7-5 2-6 6-3 in five sets 7-5 in 3 hours and 28 minutes. Choked with the pressure of having to bring a home player back to the semifinals after Andy Murray’s two wins, Norrie began the challenge nervous and excited, almost never being able to express her game and getting trapped in the web built by. Goffin, able to file free mistakes as much as possible and to maintain a more than sufficient dose of points made with the first serve. To decide the first set were the four consecutive straight mistakes committed by Norrie at 2-3 40-15 which in fact gave the Belgian the break. Goffin confirmed the advantage and closed the fraction 6-3. Norrie, decidedly insufficient to serve, continued to suffer for most of the second set: in the first game she saved a break point, then repeated herself in the fourth game and finally in the sixth she lost the serve to zero sending Goffin forward 6-3 4-3 and service. But here the Belgian had a sudden drop in pace, suddenly losing the measure of the forehand: and with two breaks the Brit finally got into the game. However, it was a flash in the pan: at the beginning of the third set Goffin flew quickly to 4-0 and then finished 6-2. On the 4-3 of the fourth set, Goffin missed three balls for the 4-4 and then he was made to break and lead to the fifth set by a Norrie who had grown both at bat and in the response rounds.

Depth

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As time went by Cameron Norrie leaned better and better on Goffin’s weightless ball, pushing deep and seeking, when possible, the way to the net. The decisive turning point on 5 equal in the fifth set, when Norrie snatched the serve from her rival and closed at the second match point, under the applause of Kate and William, when Goffin placed the last backhand of the match on the net. Norrie is the fourth British in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon after Andy Murray (7 times), Tim Henman (4 times) and Roger Taylor (2 times). It is the third time at Wimbledon in the last 30 years that the two quarter-finals of the top of the draw both end in the fifth set: previously it happened in 1993 to Sampras-Agassi and Becker-Stich and in 2017 to Querrey-Murray and Clic. -Muller.