Norrie: Welcome Added Pressure
Cameron Norrie continues his impressive fall rise.The British No. 1 swept Federico Delbonis 6-2, 6-1 in his Rolex Paris Masters opener today.Novak: Still Undecided on Playing AOIt was Norrie's first win at the Paris Indoors and his 100th career victory."Yeah, it's obviously a great milestone and it shows I have been on the tour and have a little bit of experience now," Norrie told the media in Paris. "Yeah, it feels great, but…"I mean, it's a nice bonus, but there is a lot of tennis in the year to be played."Last month, Norrie made history as the first Briton to win Indian Wells in the tournament's 45-year history.The Indian Wells champion attained one milestone in Paris and is aiming for another.The 10th-seeded Norrie, Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz and Felix Auger-Aliassime are chasing Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud for the final two spots in the eight-man, season-ending ATP Finals.
Norrie said he welcomes the pressure that comes with the race to the Finals."I know who is in the race," Norrie said. "I know who I'm competing against. I'm looking at how they are doing. I think it's very interesting to me, and I think it's cool to have this added pressure of playing for an extra event at the end of the year."All of us in the contest for it right now have not made this event before. So it's all very special for us, and it's a great opportunity, but I'm keeping my head down in terms of focusing on what I have to do in terms of getting ready for my matches and my practices, and I'm playing great in the practices and really enjoying my tennis still and I'm feeling good physically."
Next up for Norrie is a second-round Paris meeting vs. either American Reilly Opelka or Serbian Filip Krajinovic. Norrie, who never attended the ATP Finals in person when it was staged at London's O2 Arena, said while he's a longshot to qualify for Turin, he's pumped up for the opportunity to try."I'm doing what I can. I know it's a long shot for me to make the event," Norrie said. "I'm quite far behind, so I've got a lot of work to do, but luckily there's a lot of tennis left to be played. It's cool that I'm in the conversation this late in the year. "It's great. I like the fact there is added pressure. The matches seem bigger and I think it's cool and everyone is keeping on it. I have heard it's such a special event, the Tour Finals, and they have done a great job in London from what I have watched, so it would be great to be part of it. "If not, I have had a phenomenal season, in my opinion, so I leave the year feeling great about my level and how things went but it will be a bonus to make it, as well."Photo credit: San Diego Open ]]>
