Three Brits fall at Wimbledon

 Three Brits fall at Wimbledon

It almost seemed too good to be true. There we were expecting miracles at Wimbledon and then it all fizzled out in disappointing anti climax. When Andy Murray resumed his encounter against Greek hotshot Stefano Tsitspas yesterday afternoon many of us assumed that this was going to be Britain's day or at least Scotland's day. But then we remembered Murray's chronic injury record, the hip replacements, the bad backs and then sighed with despair.

Still, Murray has been there, seen it and done it. Murray is now twice winner of the men's singles Final title and probably feels as though he has nothing else to prove. But you know what's it like with British sport. We almost feel it's our prerogative to win things at the drop of the hat. We growl and groan when we lose understandably but then realise that we're just as good as the rest of the world and expectations become much more unrealistic.

Yesterday Murray, accompanied by Cameron Norrie and Liam Broady, all bowed out of this year's Wimbledon. We couldn't blame the weather because quite clearly it was boiling hot and besides these are just feeble excuses. British players should be at their fittest, most athletic and agile when the heat is on. Sadly though this was not to be Britain's day and occasionally we do experience bad days at the office. For Norrie, Broady and Carrie the excitement and drama seemed to drain out of the day as soon as Murray fell.

There was a point during the afternoon at SW19 when new kid on the block Cameron Norrie must have been startled by a thousand headlights. Instead he saw a tall, powerful American player called Chris Eubanks and knew it would be curtains sooner rather than later. Norrie was a singularly gracious loser this time but at least he could comfort himself in the knowledge that the better player had won and there was no shame in losing at this stage of his career. But as the years pass by perhaps the pressure will grow and the intensity generated by these games could work in his favour.

For the vast majority of the crowd the hot sunshine and sweltering heat may have taken them back to those halcyon days when Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe were in complete charge on Centre Court and the rest were just making up the numbers. But for Norrie this could turn into a steep learning curve rather than an arduous battle against the odds. You feel sure that Norrie will undoubtedly win Wimbledon one day but, given patience and encouragement, that day could be sooner rather than later.

The South Africa born player who took up brief residence in New Zealand, Cameron Norrie has an insatiable appetite for tennis, striking a tennis ball with ferocious power and accuracy, playing the game as if he were fated to win every shot at his disposal and looking the finished article. Corrie is  hungry for victory, fast across the court and fully endowed with a whole host of perfect shots. He fist pumps with anger and annoyance at himself because standards are impossibly high and when things are going against him he turns on himself with just a hint of frustration and self reproach.

From the opening first set Norrie was simply swept away, totally outclassed and eventually overwhelmed by Eubanks. Norrie started nervously and then found himself blown away by Eubanks and his stunning ammunition. Norrie swept his hair and tugged at his shirt anxiously as if blaming his clothes for his discomfiture. But then Eubanks got to work on the hapless Brit punching away forehands decisively, slicing the ball deceptively with both backhand and forehand and achieving a technical prowess few of us knew he had.

During one game Eubanks hit a cultured and controlled backhand past his British opponent and then there were  perfectly executed  returns delivered with the sweetest timing. Then the American seemed to get stronger and stronger with every passing shot, drilling cross court winners that screamed past Norrie like yellow bullets. Before you could blink for a moment, Eubanks had wrapped up the first set with a display of ruthless aces, astonishing chip and charges to the net and more swooping backhands from ridiculous angles. Eubanks won the first set 6-3 but that was over in the blink of an eye lid.

But then Norrie whipped up the hysterical Wimbledon crowd to fever pitch and launched the most amazing of comebacks. The Norrie backhands and forehands became crisper, meatier and significantly more crucial. His all around game was now firing on all cylinders and another British hopeful began to believe. The shots rained down on Eubanks, pinning the American to the baseline and whistling past him with lacerating speed. Norrie triumphed in a superb second set, swinging his racket with all the conviction of a gunslinger and then sending the fans wild with cunning lobs and drop shots.

Sadly, that was as good as it got for Norrie. Eubanks was in no mood for sympathy and the American's hard hitting, clinical tennis just devoured any of Norrie's resistance. Losing all of the most important service games and break points, Norrie had no answer to Eubanks who was almost cruising to inevitable victory. It had become men against boys and how we knew it. Eubanks blasted Norrie into submission in the third set 6-2, a margin so convincing that you knew the Brit had lost the contest even then.

By the fourth set Cameron Norrie acknowledged his opponent's overall superiority and couldn't really find a definitive solution to Eubanks polished all round game. And yet in a tight, fiercely competitive fourth set, Norrie went for it hammer and tongs, whipping the ball violently from deep  on his baseline and serving as if his life depended on it. It was nip and tuck, both players trading shot for shot, booming forehand shots that defied description. This could have gone either way. Sadly for Britain, Eubanks came through with an almost classical all court intelligence, winning the closest of tie breaks 7-6.

Now the Wimbledon aficionados lifted their voices and cheered from the rafters even though the home fans grudgingly admitted that Norrie had been well beaten. But they knew what they'd just seen and loved what they'd just seen. It had been a beautiful day in this summertime of sport. The strawberries and cream at SW19 may not have been eaten with the same relish but the ivy on the wall still shimmered in the July sunlight and Wimbledon glowed with its daily radiance. It had been another perfect day at the home of British tennis and although it hadn't quite gone according to plan, the tennis feast had been a joy to watch.