Cameron Norrie is making his long-awaited return to the ATP Tour after spending more than two months recovering from a forearm injury.
The Brit had never spent a large period sidelined from the sport and confessed that it was the break he didn’t know he needed.
After having the opportunity to live a “normal life” for the first time since his university days, Norrie is now in action at the Stockholm Open.
The world No. 52’s injury woes started at the Olympics when he pulled out of his opening match hours before he was due to step on the court. Norrie tried to make it back for the North American summer but quickly pulled out of Canada, Cincinnati and the US Open.
The Brit was then forced to miss the Davis Cup group stage and the entire Asian swing. He finally returned to competition at Challenger level last week and is now back on the ATP Tour for the first time since July.
Norrie never expected to be out for so long when he first got injured. “It was just one shot a few days before the Olympics,” he told the ATP.
“I had to stop and then I did scans and it wasn’t looking good. I trained a little bit more, trying to get myself ready for the US Open, but it wasn’t to be. It was a tough one.”
Between his last outing in Bastad and his Roanne Challenger appearance, Norrie spent more than 11 weeks on the sidelines. It was a first for the 29-year-old, who realised he’d never really taken a real break.
He continued: “It was an interesting period, I think it was a good realisation that it was a good time to rest. After six, seven years on the tour, I didn’t really miss one week through injury.
“So, I definitely realised that was amazing. To enjoy time with my girlfriend and be a normal person for a little bit was something I haven’t done for a very long time, maybe since college.”
While Norrie learned to love normalcy, he wanted to get back on tour. He added: “That was nice, for a bit, but then I realised I missed tennis a lot, I missed competing, the emotions of winning or losing.
“It’s a very steady life [when not competing]. I enjoyed it, but I feel ready to compete, ready to battle on the court.”
The former world No. 8 reached the quarter-finals of the Roanne Challenger when he made his comeback last week, losing to Luca Van Assche.
Norrie went on to lose his opening match in Stockholm 6-4 6-4 to Miomir Kecmanovic. He is set to compete in Vienna next week.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk