British ace Cameron Norrie earns his first Wimbledon quarter-final by cruising past Tommy Paul

British ace Cameron Norrie earns his first Wimbledon quarter-final as the ninth seed cruises past Tommy Paul in straight sets to become the first male home singles player to make the SW19 last eight since Andy Murray in 2017

Cam Norrie stormed into the last eight of Wimbledon to keep direct British interest alive.

The 26-year-old lefthander was expected to have a tight battle with American Tommy Paul but made light of the American with a hugely accomplished 6-4 7-5 6-4 victory that took two hours and 20 minutes.

Norrie will now meet Belgium’s world number 58 David Goffin and has an outstanding chance of setting up a potential semi-final against Novak Djokovic.

Cameron Norrie celebrates on his way to a comfortable Wimbledon victory over Tommy Paul

American Paul asked questions of Norrie but was unable to avoid falling to a straight-sets loss

American Paul asked questions of Norrie but was unable to avoid falling to a straight-sets loss

Against Paul, he came through two tight first sets with almost nothing to choose between the two skilful baseliners, the British number one shading it on the big points.

Court No 1 saluted him after taking his second match point at 5-4 when Paul, who had failed to take his chance in the first two sets, sent a forehand wide.

The roars of the crowd at Wimbledon are something relatively new for Norrie, who said afterwards: ‘I’m a bit shocked to make the quarters to make the quarters for the first time in front of my family and so many friends from college.

‘It’s so special. It was a huge match for me and it was great to execute the way I did.

A boisterous crowd urged Norrie on as he extended British singles interest into a second week

A boisterous crowd urged Norrie on as he extended British singles interest into a second week

‘I’m the last one left, so why not get behind me even more? From the first round, everyone’s been behind me and supporting me and it’s definitely shown in difficult situations.

‘Serving for the match, I was going through a lot of different scenarios in my head but I stayed calm.’

Norrie feel he has progressed from his straight-sets defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round of Wimbledon 2017, when Andy Murray became the most recent British men’s singles player to reach the quarter-finals. 

Norrie said: ‘If you watch me in 2017 here, I wasn’t very patient. I’ve definitely matured a lot on the court. Grass is probably my favourite surface now.’

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