Cameron Norrie has issued a response after being accused of ‘weird’ behaviour during his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.
Norrie was beaten in straight sets by the defending champion on Tuesday, ending British hopes in the singles, with Alcaraz easily winning 6-2 6-3 6-3.
During the second set, Norrie tried to inject some energy into the Centre Court crowd and get himself going when his opponent fired a shot long.
The British No.3 screamed out ‘vamos’ – which translates to ‘let’s go’ in Spanish – with John McEnroe calling out Norrie on commentary duties.
McEnroe says Norrie behaviour was ‘weird’
‘Was that Norrie saying vamos?’ McEnroe said. ‘It’s weird for a guy that was born in South Africa, grew up in New Zealand and is a Brit, that he’s saying vamos.’
Norrie explains why he shouted ‘vamos’
Norrie was quizzed about shouting ‘vamos’ during the match in his press conference and was asked to clarify if it was his normal celebration or if he did it specifically because he was playing against the Spaniard.
‘My coach (Facundo Lugones) is Argentinian,’ Norrie responded. ‘I was saying kind of ‘vamos’ the whole tournament. Just trying to bring myself energy.’
Norrie reflects on being last Brit knocked out
Norrie is the last British player to crash out of the singles and admits it would’ve been nice to have seen Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu go deeper this year.
Draper lost in the second round to Croatian veteran Marin Cilic while Raducanu fell short to world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round.
Quizzed on being the last Brit knocked out, and if he was overlooked by the media and the public, Norrie added: ‘Yeah, honestly I don’t care about that.
‘It would have been nice to see them (Draper and Raducanu), or Jack at least, go deeper.
‘It would have been nice to see. I think he would have liked that, too. He’s one of the best players in the world at the moment.
‘For me, no, I was just concentrated on myself. I was feeling very relaxed before the tournament. I was hitting the ball well.
‘Obviously it would have been nice to have a few more matches on the grass. I had a really tough draw.
‘I was playing Roberto Bautista Agut. He had a good run at Queen’s. I was trying to take it a match at a time. I’m really happy with how I played.
‘I’m not really thinking about that [other] stuff too much. Yeah, I’m just happy to be enjoying my tennis more than anything.
‘I’m not caring about who else is doing well. It would be nice to see that. But no, I was happy with the way I was enjoying my tennis.’