Tennis: The number one that got away - How British sensation Cameron Norrie could've represented New Zealand

New Zealand-raised Cameron Norrie has become Great Britain's number one tennis player and is quickly rising up the world rankings. Photo / Getty

Cameron Norrie's dad believes his son has shown it is possible to make it from the Tennis New Zealand system – to a point.

The 26-year-old South African-born, New Zealand-raised British number one is celebrating an extraordinary run to the prestigious Indian Wells ATP title in California, the sport's unofficial fifth major.

Norrie, who spent his formative years growing up in Buckland's Beach in East Auckland, has rocketed to 16 in the ATP rankings, and he's 10th in the race to qualify for the lucrative season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in Turin, featuring the top eight players throughout the season.

Ten years ago, Norrie's parents David (Scottish) and Helen (Welsh) sent David to London to train at the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association facility at Roehampton) after the then 16-year-old, who had reached a world junior ranking of No10, received better offers of funding and support.

He officially switched allegiances to Britain before accepting a scholarship to Texas Christian University.

But far from harbouring any grudges towards Tennis NZ, David insists Cameron's success shows talented youngsters can thrive and develop in the New Zealand system. Speaking to the Tennis Talk podcast on Newstalk ZB, David Norrie says his son's success can inspire others, but admitted things could be improved in New Zealand.

"That's the positive we should take out of it. Cam has shown that you can grow up in New Zealand and there's nothing wrong with the system up until a point where maybe at 15 or 16 you need to move on," Norrie said.

"Of course, it could be better, we should have more indoor courts in the South Island and in the North Island and we probably should be getting a bit of funding possibly from the Government relative to other sports, so there are things to improve."

Cameron Norrie and his father David. Photo / Getty

The problem for Tennis New Zealand is the isolation and the lack of international tournaments for aspiring players. Pre-Covid there were the two ASB Classic tournaments, a men's ITF event in Te Anau and a women's event in Hamilton, and Norrie believes its crucial players head offshore once they get to 16.

"The tragedy I think really is that there still isn't a career path for budding tennis players whether you are a Jack, Jill, or Hannah coming up now and you showed some promise, it doesn't look like there is a career path outside of having to go overseas. You can't build a career around a few tournaments here, so you must go offshore.

"The only other example in recent times of someone being successful is of course Marina Erakovic and she was very fortunate to get Seed Foundation money and thank goodness she did because without that I suspect she wouldn't have made the career she had either."

David was surprised Tennis NZ chose not to back his son and explained what happened when Cam left for the UK.

"I think the LTA has resources that New Zealand tennis don't have and never will have. But to be fair they recognised that it's not that often that someone who gets to number 10 in the world as a junior, so they welcomed him with open arms, not so much with money but just with a professional attitude and beginning to get proper nutrition and start building to get your body into shape to be a professional tennis player.

"So in every sense there was a professional attitude to taking a career in tennis forward and that was great. The big attraction, of course, is that they have Wimbledon and can offer wild cards and Cam eventually took good advantage of those and it's something that unfortunately NZ tennis can't and won't ever be able to offer. But up until 16, New Zealand's fine but after that if you want to get better at tennis you need to probably play overseas and that's the reality."

David Norrie has revealed Cameron has discussed with him giving something back to tennis in New Zealand for the contribution this country has made to his success.

"I think at some point he would like to give something back to NZ tennis and we've talked a little bit about that. Early days yet but he recognises the help he got was crucial.

"Certainly the Buckland's Beach tennis club were fantastic and supported him when he had to travel to the US open as a junior. We had a charity event which raised something like $13,000 dollars at a time when we couldn't afford to do that. So there are people to thank in due course and I think as time goes on when he has had a chance to digest what he has achieved he will."

Cameron Norrie in action. Photo / Photosport

Cameron Norrie was already having a phenomenal season before clinching his second title of the year at Indian Wells. The Masters 1000 win came in his sixth final, matched only by world number one Novak Djokovic. He started the year ranked 74th and after 47 match wins is now 16th.

The lure of the ATP Finals in Turin looms large with Norrie sitting 10th in the race and with Rafael Nadal injured ahead of him, he effectively only needs to improve one more spot with tournaments in Vienna, the Paris Masters and Stockholm to come before Turin.

So what has made the difference this year?

"Maturity," David Norrie said emphatically. "I think you've got to have gone around the track a few times to get to that level and be able to play the big points when you need to, and very rarely can you do that when you are a teenager or in your early 20s.

"This is his fourth year out on tour, and I think he's been around the tracks a couple of times. He realises what it takes and has been a bit more professional about his whole career on and off the court."

Norrie earned NZ$1.7 million for his Indian Wells triumph taking his total earnings this year to more than $3.2 million. But David doesn't think it will change him much.

"He's not particularly materialistic. He's got a flat in London as he needs to have a base to move on from. So I don't think we'll be seeing him splashing the cash all over the world. I think he's a reasonably shrewd investor."