BNP PARIBAS OPEN

October 17, 2021

Cameron Norrie

Press Conference

C. NORRIE/N. Basilashvili

3-6, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us with the first British men's singles champion in BNP Paribas history, Cameron Norrie.

Questions?

Q. Can you put into words your feelings and emotions, especially when that last point was won?

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, I mean, what an incredible week I've had here. Yeah, it was just a strange match. It was over quite quickly, and then the last kind of set I was expecting it to be longer. He made a couple errors towards the end.

I still don't really know what I'm experiencing. It was an amazing couple weeks and I'm so happy with how I treated all the occasions, all the big moments, all the matches.

Yeah, I'm so happy, so pleased to win my biggest title.

Q. Can you tell us about the shoe drop that you experienced.

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, I got to the tennis today, every day I left my shoes on top of the locker. I think someone, I don't know who it was, maybe someone from the cleaners or something last night, came through and they threw the three pairs of shoes that I had away.

I looked all day. I had everyone looking. I don't know what the people have against the Brits with stealing the shoes, but I didn't manage to get them back. Just had to go out there with a fresh pair of shoes. Yeah, it was just difficult.

Luckily I didn't have a wedding ring attached. I didn't lose that, so it was a bonus for me (smiling).

Q. Would that explain why you lost the first set in some way? Did it take some adjustment?

CAMERON NORRIE: No, I don't think it mattered too much. Ideally I like to play with shoes that I've been using for maybe five or six hits or practices or warmups. I like to have them a little bit used. They feel a bit heavy in general if they're a bit newer.

A couple times I was just thinking about it, probably not the best thing. You don't want to be thinking about your shoes. A little bit to get used to. At one point I said, All right, these are the shoes I got, I'm just going to focus on what I can control right now.

I wore them in a little bit, came good in the end.

Q. You've talked a lot in the past about your path to the top of the game, from college, also about your coaches. What is it about you and the decision you've made that you've gone on quite a unique path towards the top of the game, not kind of done the conventional things that a lot of players do?

CAMERON NORRIE: I think my progression with tennis has been pretty steady. Obviously not been too quick to get up. Went through the challengers fairly quickly. Around kind of 60 to 80, I was stuck there, then made a jump forward. I think I've just been working hard and progressing nicely, making small improvements in my game and in my ranking.

I think honestly doing it this way, getting slowly, slowly better every year, improving little things, I don't think I've missed anything, made any big jumps. I've been working extremely hard. I've got a lot of great people around me that's wanting the best for me. We're taking care of all the little details on the court, off the court, and we all have the same goal in mind. When that all comes together, it definitely helps. Everyone's got the same passion for tennis and the same will to win and will to do well. When everyone comes together, weeks like this can happen.

Q. This win obviously changes a lot of things, including the fact that now you are generally in the run for the ATP Finals. I appreciate it's very soon after your match, but is it going to be an objective for you for the rest of the season? Are you going to play more tournaments to actually go to Turin?

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, even before the tournament I was in the hunt. I think before I was 14 or 15 in the race. I had a chance. I was thinking about it.

If you think about it too much, it can't be good for you. I was, All right, just take care of the matches. I was meant to play Antwerp next week, but it's going to be tough. I ended up pulling out of that one. I'm playing Vienna, Paris, and Stockholm, the last three events indoors. It would be nice to make it, but I'm going to keep going, keep taking care of what I can and handling what I can. We'll see how it goes.

I'm looking forward to the indoor season. I really like the courts. I've never really made a deep run in one of those tournaments, but I always play well. I always lose tight matches. Hopefully those can swing in my favor this year.

Q. At what point this year did you think Turin really was a realistic goal?

CAMERON NORRIE: I think even being in the conversation this late in the year with, what, four tournaments left after this, I think that's impressive for me. If you would have told me before the year that would be the case, I would have been happy. I think that's a lot of good progression.

But this definitely helps. It's amazing to be in the hunt for that this late in the year. I think throughout the year I've been pretty consistent and been in the hunt with being in the top kind of 15 in the race all year. It's not been a surprise or not thought anything, but I've always had a good chance.

Q. In the on-court interview, you mentioned you wouldn't have believed someone if they told you this would have happened at the beginning of the week. What has surprised you about this whole run? Has anything been surprising?

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, I mean, I think it's a little bit surprising. Starting the tournament, you're a little bit nervous, you're not really sure, not used to the conditions. You're not feeling good. I had a couple of tough matches early on, especially against Bautista. I think that was my toughest match. Physically that match was rough.

I think it just shows if you stick around in these big events, obviously it was pretty miraculous that all the top guys lost, and when I looked at the four semifinalists, Hmm, it's a good opportunity here. Didn't really want to get too far ahead of myself.

I think in the past, a little bit with my experience, being on the tour four years now, I was very calm in the bigger moments and I played unbelievable, my best tennis, against Diego and Grigor in the quarters and semis. Those were huge matches for me. To come out and play that level, to manage to turn it round today, especially after things didn't go my way early on, and he's difficult, not really giving you any rhythm, I was able to get my foot in the door, able to hang around, cause some trouble in the third set, really feel like I was moving well in the end.