CAMERON NORRIE accidentally smacked a small kid – and was then beaten up by an old man in his Wimbledon exit.
A young fan received one of those fancy Wimbledon towels as a souvenir after being struck unexpectedly in the face by a wayward serve from an apologetic Norrie.
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But the British No2 – bogged down by SEVEN double faults – was unable to create further drama on Centre Court as he lost to the grass GOAT Roger Federer.
Norrie deserves credit for winning the third set but ultimately he finished up as second best, losing 6-4 6-4 5-7 6-4 in the third round.
Veteran Federer, a month off his 40th birthday, has not lost to a Brit at Tour level for eight years and he said: “I’m very pleased. Super relieved in fact.
“It was a tough battle with Cam. He deserved that third set. I thought he played excellent.
“For me, I felt I was able to keep a very high level of play. Overall, I can be very happy with how I played. Overall I’m playing at a high level now.”
Records seem to be broken or extended every time Federer takes to the court and this time was no exception.
He will now make an 18th appearance in the Wimbledon last 16 – two ahead of Jimmy Connors – and 69 times in the fourth round of a Slam in the Open Era.
And the 39-year-old is the third oldest male swinger of a racket to reach this particular stage, behind Pancho Gonzales (41) in 1969 and Ken Rosewall (40) in 1975.
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Federer said: “Those are nice stats to hear. It proves to me when I do wake up in the morning it has happened!
“Sometimes I feel stiff. I have played a lot of tennis. But I have loved every minute of it.
“I hope there is a little bit more left in me. It’s an absolute pleasure still playing right now.
“I guess this one is special as I am almost 40. This is the last Slam before I hit the big 40.
“At this point, it is all a bonus and we will how far I can go here.”
Nerves were clearly an issue for Norrie on a rare visit to Centre Court as he hit THREE doubles faults in his opening service game.
Whenever you face Federer, regardless of his advancing age, you have to take your opportunity and Norrie was unable to do that across the first two sets.
Cheeky Norrie, 25, tried to whip up the crowd into a frenzy when he reduced the arrears by commendably winning the fourth set but to be fair, most of the fans were cheering instead for the Swiss superstar.
A fifth set would have tested Federer’s stamina and endurance levels but it never transpired as he saw out the match.
Next up is Italian No23 seed Lorenzo Sonego on Monday in his pursuit of title no9.
For Norrie, this is a blip in what has been an otherwise excellent season, but a reminder that more work is needed to bridge that gap with the Big Boys.
