Cameron Norrie reveals how 'huge lungs' are helping Indian Wells title defence after Nikoloz Basilashvili win

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Published 15/03/2022 at 09:41 GMT

British No. 1 Cameron Norrie continued the defence of his Indian Wells title with a three-set win over Nikoloz Basilashvili, who he beat in last year's final to lift the trophy. Norrie, who next faces Jenson Brooksby after he beat world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, says he is taking advantage of having lungs which have been compared to a deep sea diver.

Cameron Norrie has revealed how his “huge lungs” are helping him embark on another Indian Wells run after he reached the last 16 with victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Defending champion Norrie won 3-6 6-3 6-1 against Basilashvili in a repeat of last year’s final to win his 11th straight match in America after clinching the Delray Beach Open title last month.

The British No.1 is next set to face American Jenson Brooksby, who upset world No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets.

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One of the strongest areas of Norrie’s game is his work-rate and court coverage, and he says he is making the most of natural gifts given to him.

“I went to the hospital for some tests after an accident in college, and one of the [techs] was like ‘are you a deep sea diver or something? Your lungs are huge! I’ve never seen lungs like that’.

“So about five years ago I realised I had big lungs, and I’ve used them to my advantage ever since.”

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Norrie made a slow start to the year as he lost all three of his matches at the ATP Cup and also crashed out of the Australian Open in the first round.

However, he has returned to form over the last few months with victory at the Delray Beach Open and a run to the final of the Mexican Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal.

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He is relishing the opportunity to face Brooksby, whose playing style makes him one of the more unorthodox players on tour.

"Jenson's not the most traditional player. He's a tricky player, and he's got good hands," said Norrie.

"I've always wanted to play him and feel what it's like to play him. I'm looking forward to that, and it's a little bit of a rivalry.

"He went to Baylor, which is Texas Christian University's rival school (where Norrie studied) so hopefully I can get him on that one."

Brooksby beat Tsitsipas 1-6 6-3 6-2 to claim his first top-five career win.

He will be playing in the fourth round of a Masters event for the first time when he faces Norrie.

“I mean, it’s my favourite tournament,” said the Sacramento-born Brooksby.

“This was the tournament I watched as a kid. It means a lot that I’m making good strides from last year and continuing to improve. I’m excited to keep it going, see what I can do.”

This time last year Brooksby was ranked outside the top 250 in the world and was playing on the ATP Challenger Tour. Now he looks set to break into the top 40 in the rankings.

“You never know at that stage [a year ago] what’s going to happen,” he said.

“You can’t predict the future, but all you can do is what’s in your control. I knew in my head I thought I had the game to be here, and there’s nothing as good as replicating it out here.”

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