Cameron Norrie came back from the brink of defeat to pull off a remarkable victory against Alex de Minaur at the Canadian Open, but one big talking point after the match was his repetitive change of shirts throughout the gruelling match.
Norrie hauled himself back from match point down to win 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-1 in a gruelling two hours, 52 minutes in difficult played in demandingly humid conditions.
De Minaur double faulted while holding his lone match point at 5-2 in the second set, with Norrie holding the upper hand after that moment as he powered towards the winning line against a fading opponent.
Norrie changed his shirt on numerous occasions during the match and the moments he picked to make the changes raised plenty of eyebrows.
The Brit changed his shirt during De Minaur’s service games and also when he was break point down on his own serve, with umpire Fergus Murphy looking a little bemused by his clothing changes.
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While he didn’t break any rules with his shirt changes, Norrie was accused by some social media users of using devious tactics to break up the make and distract De Minaur.
One X user suggested Norrie used ‘dirty tactics’ to throw De Minaur out of his stride, with others asking if his shirt-changing obsession was fair.
He insisted after the match that his shirt changes were merely due to the humidity, as he addressed the issue after the match.
“It took eight shirts. Had to change a lot,” said Norrie.
“I was just trying to play every point, and I thought it was getting tough, and it was so humid. It felt like a wall. And I was really struggling with that. And if I was struggling, I know I’m a really fit guy, so I was thinking, imagine how he’s feeling, and he must be suffering, too.
“So I wanted to keep pushing and keep pushing, and it ended up paying off in the third set.
“I thought a little bit, in the end of the first set, and in the second set I tried to rush the points a little bit too much. In that moment, all last week, this week, I’ve really been trying to reset every point, regardless of if it was the best point I played or the worst point, and regardless of what happens, just tried to get myself ready, fight every single point.
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“And obviously I was down 5-2. It was looking like it was going to be done, but I just said, no, let’s keep playing, keep testing the legs. Managed to do that and get back and find that right balance of not pressing too much and really finding that good balance where I could come forward when I needed to and make good decisions.
“And I managed to do that in the tiebreak, too, and came forward, and I played to win, and that’s what counted.”
The win ensured Norrie will jump back above Arthur Fery to reclaim the British No 1 ranking at the end of the Canadian Open and he might fancy his chances of going all the way in Montreal after a remarkable escape against De Minaur.
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