Tim Henman admits Cameron Norrie did something that really surprised him in his US Open second round match

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Tim Henman has admitted that Cameron Norrie has already left him stunned as he progressed into the US Open third round.

The former British number one is often an underappreciated asset within the tennis world, who goes about his business with minimal fuss.

However, every now and then, he is capable of stringing together some fine results to propel him deep into an event.

This year in particular, he has found consistency across the last two Grand Slams, reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros, and the quarter-final at Wimbledon too.

Now, having reached the third round of the US Open, opportunity beckons once again for Cam Norrie.

All that stands in his way is Novak Djokovic.

Tim Henman and Leon Smith give advice for Cam Norrie against Novak Djokovic

Henman, speaking to Sky Sports after the match, was left glowing when speaking about Norrie’s second-round performance over Francisco Comesana.

He admitted: “It’s so good to watch and that’s Cam’s bread and butter for me. It was brilliant and fair play to his opponent, he never let his head drop and he was close to making it a fifth.

“He certainly took me by surprise. When he goes back and analyses the numbers, he was winning 70 per cent when he was coming up to the net, and it’s something he can come back and repeat; he was very strong.

“For Norrie to put out that performance, he will revel in this and take so much confidence from getting the job done.”

Leon Smith, Britain’s Davis Cup captain, then chimed in with some advice for the 30-year-old ahead of his showdown with Djokovic: “It was a bit of a crazy match in the end,” he said. “The way he regrouped was absolutely brilliant. Cam was applauding the Argentine fans in the end, which was great.

“Norrie has been great at the Grand Slams, he had a good run at the French Open and then a great one at Wimbledon.

“Norrie always does a lot of work and has a loyal team around him.

“Norrie has to play brave against Djokovic; he needs to be aggressive, extend points, get a set on the board and take it from there.”

This match-up is made particularly ironic, given Norrie predicted how far he thought Djokovic might go at the US Open this year before the tournament.

What is Cam Norrie’s head-to-head record vs Novak Djokovic?

Norrie and Djokovic have both been ever-present figures on the ATP tour for well over a decade now, and yet have only met six times.

However, that is more due to the former’s inability to regularly go deep at events than the latter, whose trophy cabinet speaks for itself.

And yet, two of those meetings have actually come this year, with this US Open clash set to be their third in 2025 alone.

Sadly, Norrie is without a career win over Djokovic, having lost all six of their matches.

He was most famously dumped out of the Wimbledon semi-finals by the Serbian in 2022, but more recently suffered defeat at the French Open back in June.

The head-to-head does not make for good reading for Norrie, and yet there is quiet optimism that he could actually do the unthinkable later this week.