Cameron Norrie soaked in the biggest moment of his career after reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals in dramatic fashion, then backed himself to defeat Novak Djokovic.
The ninth seed twice recovered from a set down to claim a 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Belgian David Goffin on a raucous Court One and become only the fourth British man in the Open era to reach the last four at Wimbledon.
Norrie is not prone to great shows of emotion but he struggled to get the words out after the match.
“Just all the hard work and the sacrifices and everything kind of all hit me at once,” he said.
Especially the situation, here at Wimbledon in front of my family, my friends, and obviously a lot of people following that match.
“Got emotional there and [it was] just a crazy day and crazy match to get through, especially with the way that it started. That’s the reason why you play the sport.”
Norrie’s parents, David and Helen, travelled from their home in New Zealand to watch their son this summer.
“I think every match that I’ve won this week my mum has cried," said Norrie, 26.
“The matches are getting bigger and the moments are getting more special.
"I think they’re just super happy for me that I’m doing something that I love, and it’s just a bonus that I’m winning. I think it was probably pretty stressful for them today.
“They came over after the match when I was on the bike and both gave me a big hug, and my sister too.
"Very cool to have them here watching. Obviously very rare for them to be here, especially over the last couple of years.
“To see me playing at the level that I have been and to get some wins and to experience moments like that is exactly why they came.”
Norrie took over as British number one last October after winning the ATP tournament in Indian Wells in what was previously the biggest moment of his career.
But he had been comprehensively overshadowed by Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu before this fortnight.
His profile has now rocketed, with some fans rechristening the famous Wimbledon hill Norrie Knoll.
“I heard that as well,” Norrie said. “I don’t even know what a knoll is. I would say it doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as Henman Hill.”
Norrie had played two of his best Grand Slam matches in beating American duo Steve Johnson and Tommy Paul in the previous rounds.
But he was unable to find the same form initially against Goffin, a former top-10 player who has slipped down the rankings after injury.
The Belgian is one of the sweetest strikers of a ball on tour at his best and he deservedly took the opening set.
Goffin looked to be on his way to the second as well when he broke to lead 4-3 only to unexpectedly throw in a poor game.
Norrie took full advantage by levelling the match but was 4-0 down in the third set in double-quick time.
He finally began to find his rhythm during the fourth set, urging the crowd to support him.
They responded with frequent chants of “Norrie, Norrie, Norrie, Oi, Oi, Oi”.
He broke through after a long eighth game and appeared to have the momentum and the stamina heading into the decider.
But Goffin withstood the pressure until the 11th game, when Norrie seized his moment.
Prince William and his wife Kate left their seats in the Royal Box to cheer him on, and Norrie said: “I didn’t notice that during the match but I saw them at the end there.
“So that’s obviously very special to be playing in front of them, and obviously they had more interest in my match, which is pretty cool.
“I think David did a good job of kind of hushing the crowd. He was playing at such a high level and was really giving me nothing.
“I think at the end of the fourth, that 4-3 game I really got the crowd involved, and from then on they were behind me every point.
"I think it frustrated him a little bit. Maybe that was the difference today.”
Norrie knows he will need to play better from the start if he is to have a chance of defeating Djokovic, who has only lost one completed match at Wimbledon since he was beaten by Andy Murray in the 2013 final.
Asked if he can win, Norrie said: “For sure. I think it’s obviously one of the toughest tasks in tennis. I’d say grass is his favourite surface and his record is unbelievable here at Wimbledon. It’s going to be tough.
“I’m going to have to improve a lot of things from today. I don’t think I’m going to have the chance to lose focus like I did today.
"I think I was a little bit fortunate. I’m looking forward to taking it to him and seeing the level he brings.”
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Likes the colour: Black
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
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