Facing a Grand Slam nice: Dream come true? Big loss? Both?

Image Source : AP Spain’s Rafael Nadal, left, shakes fingers with Britain’s Cameron Norrie after profitable their third spherical match a the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Feb. 13
Ahead of his match towards Rafael Nadal on the Australian Open, Cameron Norrie hit what gave the impression of all the proper notes, the types of sentiments that specific a wholesome mix of respect and confidence.
A bit intimidated, however not too intimidated. A bit in awe, however not too in awe.
It is a difficult stability when somebody of Norrie’s ilk — ranked 69th and, till this week, the proprietor of a grand whole of six wins in Grand Slam matches — goes up towards somebody of Nadal’s stature on one in all their sport’s largest levels. Facing an important — any member of the Big Three, say, or Serena Williams — at a significant event affords loads of alternative, in fact: a second within the highlight; an encounter with an idol; a strategy to measure your self towards the very best; an opportunity for a career-altering consequence.
Or, greater than seemingly, a lopsided loss. And to some, that’s OK.
Norrie, a 25-year-old left-hander who went to Texas Christian University and represents Britain, spoke earlier than taking over Nadal at Rod Laver Arena in regards to the prospect of “an unbelievable experience.” About needing “to go after it and enjoy every minute” of Saturday’s third-round encounter.
He acknowledged Nadal is “a legend” in a single breath, and within the subsequent referred to as the 2009 champion at Melbourne Park “just another player ” and vowed to “show him what I’ve got.” In the top, to nobody’s shock, it was Nadal who confirmed what HE’S obtained, profitable 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 to maneuver a step nearer to his males’s-record twenty first Grand Slam title whereas stopping Norrie from getting wherever close to his first.
“Always going to be nice,” Norrie stated afterward, “to play a big dog like Rafa.”
The scoreline was barely tighter than Nadal’s earlier win: 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 towards Michael Mmoh, a 23-year-old from Florida ranked 177th. Mmoh referred to as Nadal “somebody I’ve been watching for years and years — since I was, like, a little baby, almost.”
That sort of match is “definitely what we dream of,” Mmoh stated. “I couldn’t be happier.”
Casper Ruud, a 22-year-old from Norway who reached the spherical of 16 at a significant for the primary time Saturday, recalled making his third-round debut towards Roger Federer on the 2019 French Open.

“That’s a tough third-round opponent, the greatest of them all,” Ruud stated. “So then you kind of think more about just the experience — being in the third round — than maybe thinking about actually winning the match.”
Players say every such outing towards that caliber of foe makes the following one much less daunting. There is a distinction between going right into a match figuring there’s zero shot at a victory and having some semblance of self-belief.
Anastasia Potapova, a Russian teenager who gained a Wimbledon junior title in 2016, misplaced to Williams 6-0, 6-3 a 12 months in the past within the Australian Open’s first spherical. The rematch got here Friday within the third spherical, and Potapova made issues way more attention-grabbing, even twice coming inside a degree of taking the primary set in what turned a 7-6 (5), 6-2 defeat.
“I didn’t feel like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m playing Serena.’ No, I had been there already,” Potapova stated. “I felt more, I would say, relaxed in my head.”
When the attracts come out at a significant, some gamers research them. Most, it appears, attempt to keep away from understanding any greater than the title of their subsequent foe.
Blame superstition, maybe. Or a need to, because the cliché has it, deal with one match at a time.
Inevitably, although, if an early assembly with a famous person is within the offing, it’s laborious to disregard.
Nina Stojanovic, a 24-year-old from Serbia ranked 99th, arrived in Melbourne by no means having gained a Slam match. So there was no manner she was going to look previous the primary spherical.
“Then my coach asked me: ‘If you win, you know who you’re playing in the second round?’ And I said, ‘Who?’ And he said, ‘Serena.’ And I was like, ‘What?! Really?! Actually?!’” Stojanovic stated in a video interview with The Associated Press. “For me, all these years practicing tennis, it was my wish to play against Serena. I love her game. I admire her game.”
So what if the ultimate rating wound up 6-3, 6-0 in favor of the 23-time Grand Slam champ?
“I really enjoyed it,” Stojanovic stated, smiling about her afternoon. “Even if I lost.”