1 day ago
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Can you beat a goat in a dogfight? That is what Cam Norrie intends to find out, as he determines to take the 38-year-old legs and blistered feet of Novak Djokovic into a physical war, and so record a first ever victory over the greatest of all time.
Norrie has faced the Serb six times in his career, and twice this year alone. The Geneva semi-final was tight but at the French Open Norrie was blown away.
The British No3, who turned 30 last week, is realistic enough to know this is a terrible matchup for him - but also to acknowledge that Djokovic is far from the unstoppable force of old.
‘I will say the chances (of beating Djokovic) are getting better as the years get on, but not by much,’ said Norrie, who will make his Arthur Ashe debut in Friday’s night session.
‘The level he brings, the competitiveness he brings is crazy. Every time I've played him, he's changing his tactics and making it really difficult for me to play.
‘So I'm just ready for anything. Him to play unreal. Him to play not great. Him to be stopping the match for something and then playing really good.
Cam Norrie has insisted that his chances of beating Novak Djokovic has increased in light of his opponent's age
In their last Grand Slam meeting, Djojokic, 38, beat Norrie in straight sets at the French Open
‘It's going to be very tough. I'm going to have to play close to my best to have a chance with him.
‘I've never played on Arthur Ashe here. It's probably the only big court in tennis that I've never played.’
Djokovic has not played well at all this week, and in his first-round win he received treatment on a huge, gruesome blister on his right foot.
‘I did see the blister on the TV the other day,’ said Norrie. ‘But he's the king of when he's feeling adversity to come up and fight through that and push through it. I'm going to just focus more on myself. But yeah, I'm going really, really make it as physical as I can.’
