Cameron Norrie hopes the seventh time will be the charm when he takes on Alexander Zverev in the third round of the Australian Open.
Norrie has become a reliable face of British tennis, failing to reach the 32 Grand Slam finals just three times in his last 15 appearances.
He is the latest British singles player to stop again after battling to a four-set victory over American Emilio Nava on Wednesday.
Next, he faces a familiar foe in third seed Zverev, who has won all six of their meetings at tour level, but Norrie enters the clash in bullish spirit.
“I think I can trouble him, for sure,” said the 26th seed. “I’m going to have to really play a full match and play well for four hours, I think, to have a chance with him.”
“I can really get a lot of confidence from the first three weeks of the year, how I run my service games, how I return a lot on the court. I feel like I’m there for every point.”
“I know that’s kind of my trademark, to be there every point. I think I did a really good job with that. My tennis was there. I feel the ball great. I think mentally I feel in a good place.”
Norrie came close to dropping out of the top 100 last spring after injury problems and a dip in form, but has made an impressive recovery and is now on his way back into the top 20.
Against Nava, he was helped by the raucous support he received from the enthusiastic crowd and, while it won’t be the same feeling as the spectators hanging over the pitch in the cavernous John Kane Arena, it should still be a good atmosphere in the night session.
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Cameron Norrie began his Australian Open campaign with a five-set first-round loss against Benjamin Bonzi
And to prove how he can trouble Zverev, who reached his third Slam final last year, Norrie needs to look back just two years to their meeting in the last 16 at Melbourne Park.
There, Nori pushed the German all the way to a fifth-set tiebreak before losing – one of five losses to top-10 players in his last seven Slams.
“I’ll definitely look into that,” Norrie said. “I used the drop shot unreal that day. I played so freely, enjoyed the match so much, performed a lot. I disturbed him a lot and mixed it up. I think I’ll have to put some of that in, for sure.”
The 30-year-old knows the change he’ll make if he finds himself in the same situation, saying: “I think maybe in the fifth-set tiebreak I overused (the drop shot) and missed a few shots I wouldn’t have hit.
“I think he’ll remember that match. It was so tough. But I’m excited to give it another shot. I’ll remember if I’m in a fifth-set tiebreaker again, I’ll try to be more aggressive and be the one to go for it, maybe not get out of the ball.”
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