Cameron Norrie doesn't deserve blame for 'trying to change dynamic' against Novak Djokovic - Andy Roddick
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Published 17/05/2023 at 09:26 GMT
Novak Djokovic reached the Italian Open quarter-finals for a 17th year in a row as he beat Cameron Norrie in straight sets. The match was not without incident as Norrie hit Djokovic with a smash and also called a medical time out before the world No. 1 was about to serve for the match. Andy Roddick said Norrie "wasn't breaking any rules" and was trying to "change the dynamic of the match".
'Norrie brought the fire and I responded' - Djokovic after tense contest in Rome
Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick doesn't think Cameron Norrie crossed the line during his tense Italian Open match against Novak Djokovic and can't be blamed for "trying something".
Djokovic beat Norrie 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals in Rome for the 17th year in a row.
It was a spicy match after which Djokovic said he was unimpressed with a “combination of things” from the British No. 1.
Top of that list was a smash that Norrie hit into the calf of Djokovic after he turned around to give up on a point.
Djokovic also suggested that Norrie was over-celebrating points from the start of the match.
However, Roddick thinks Norrie was in his right to “try something” to upset Djokovic’s rhythm.
“It’s fair play. Norrie has every right to do what he wants and Novak has every right to not like it,” Roddick told Tennis Channel.
“He wasn’t breaking any rules. I’ve gotten in trouble for criticising people for taking medical timeouts a little too often.
“Novak said that he looked at the replay and said that maybe Norrie didn’t see him with his back turned. So Novak understands hitting a ball where you’re not supposed to, sometimes.
“Listen, it doesn’t matter. Norrie can do what he wants, Novak cannot like it, we wash our hands, and we move on. Novak got the win and it’s over. Or we stay mad about it, which makes no sense at all.
“He didn’t break any rules, he was obviously trying to do something because he was not winning with the patterns that were being played on the court.
“So he tried to change the dynamic of the match. Novak is just way too experienced, he has seen it too many times. You’re going to blame a guy for trying? You don’t have to like it but he was trying something.”
Djokovic acknowledged afterwards that Norrie wasn’t breaking the rules, but that he thought some of his actions were “not fair play”.
Former Olympic champion Monica Puig thinks Norrie’s approach made Djokovic go up a level.
“Obviously, that just made Djokovic go that extra level of fire and say 'hey, you’re not going to screw with me here on the court, I'm the boss, I'm in charge, and I'm going to show you,” Puig said on Tennis Channel.
"If it were me, I wouldn’t go about hitting my opponent with an overhead. It's been discussed, he had the whole court.”
Djokovic will next face world No. 7 Holger Rune. Rune beat Djokovic in their most recent meeting in the Paris Masters final last year.
“Even though he's really young, I know his game quite well,” said Djokovic of Rune.
“He's been on the tour now for last few years playing some great tennis, particularly in the last I would say six to eight months. He's been really establishing himself as a top player.
“He's a top-10 player, deservedly so. He's been playing some really high-quality tennis. He's one of the hardest workers out there. Nice guy. I get along well with him. On the court obviously we certainly want to win against each other.”
Rune beat qualifier Alexei Popyrin to reach the quarter-finals.
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