Top-ranked British male tennis player Cameron Norrie has underlined that his next big goal is to become the world No 1. In April, 27-year-old Norrie broke into the top-10 for the first time in his career. Norrie, who achieved a career-high ranking of No 8 this year, finished the season ranked at No 14 in the world.
“There are a lot more eyes on me now: going into Wimbledon as British No 1 then having the run I did, I feel like I am more well known in the UK. But for me, that is not the goal: it’s to be world No 1. So, I’m not really thinking about that.
There are still 13 players better than me so I need to improve," Norrie told The National.
Norrie hopes to be prepared well for the Australian Open
This week, Norrie is competing at the second edition of the Diriyah Tennis Cup.
After the Diriyah Tennis Cup, Norrie will be playing at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi exhibition is set to feature some of the biggest names of the game as Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev are also expected to play.
Going into the 2023 Australian Open, Norrie feels the Mubadala World Tennis Championship gives him a perfect chance to prepare for the opening Grand Slam of the season. “I wanted to be around the best players in the world and there’s no better place to do that than in a beautiful city and with nice weather, playing outside and similar conditions to Australia.
I don’t think I’ve played my best in Australia, so I wanted to try something different and I was fortunate to get the call up to this event. To play these important matches before even more important matches in Australia will help for my goals and my expectations so it’s cool to be involved in this tournament," Norrie said.