By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Sunday, July 6, 2025
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Nicolas Jarry accused opponent Cameron Norrie of serving gamesmanship during their Wimbledon fourth-round clash on No. 1 Court.
The 61st-ranked Norrie had the last word though.
Norrie fought off Jarry 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-7(7), 6-7(5), 6-3 in a wild four hour, 27-minute triumph that ended with a double knockdown. Jarry went sprawling to the grass diving in vain for a volley, while Norrie dove to the turf in pure elation.
During the post-match hand shake, Jarry engaged Norrie in discussion prompting boos from some British fans.
The controversy went down at the end of the second set.
British home hero Norrie banged a backhand winner crosscourt to take a two-set lead over Jarry 6-3, 7-6(4) then departed the court for a bathroom break.
That’s when qualifier Jarry called out the Briton for playing the ball-bouncing card.
An angry Jarry told chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore he felt Norrie was bouncing the ball excessively before serving, then pausing as if about to hit a second serve, only to resort to the ball bouncing tactic again.
Jarry asked the chair umpire to clarify the rule on that move.
“What is the rule there? The problem is, is it normal to do that when it affects the other player?” Jarry asked Moore during the break.
“You have to intervene there or I have to suck it. That’s the real issue, it doesn’t matter the reason. It is the same as hitting the ball anywhere.”
The towering 6’7″ Chilean suggested Norrie was throwing off his return timing with the tactic—though part of the issue may be at Jarry’s height it can take a toll just to go up and down from his crouched return position.
“It’s something that he can control. It’s not a nervous tick,” Jarry told Moore. “You think there’s nothing I can do so I just have to suck it up, because he does it always.
“That’s a reason for me to have to play with something that affects me. It can be changed, it’s not something that cannot be changed.”
Qualifier Jarry, who had scored six straight Wimbledon wins, was bidding to become the first male qualifier since Bernard Tomic in 2011 to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals and was not happy with the ball bouncing card play.
Chair umpire Moore listened to the Chilean’s complaint and replied: “I am going to step in if I think there is a reason to step in.”
That didn’t completely appease Jarry, who clarified: “I don’t want to force you into anything. I just want to do what the rules say.
“And if there is not a rule then tell me and I cannot do anything about it.”
The 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Norrie had the last word.
Winning this contentious clash, Norrie joins Andy Murray, Tim Henman and Roger Taylor as the fourth British man in Open Era history to reach multiple Wimbledon quarterfinals.
“It’s just something private that I wanted to tell him,” Jarry said after of the discussion at net. “That it was a great match. He played very, very good. He didn’t give me chances. He deserved to win. All the best luck for the future.”
Of course, Norrie is not the first pro accused of excessive ball bouncing. Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic and former US Open champion Marin Cilic, who toppled British hero Jack Draper last week, have both been known for repeated ball bouncing before serving.
The gritty Norrie, who was a college standout at TCU, is not afraid of playing in-your-face tennis against even elite opponents.
The left-handed Norrie nailed Novak Djokovic, who turned his back and was walking away from the net, in the ankle with a smash in the second set of their spicey 2023 Rome clash.
Though he immediately raised a hand in apology, it absolutely annoyed Djokovic who stared down the Briton in response.
While Norrie operated within the rules, Djokovic suggested it was disrespect on dirt.
Pointing out Norrie took an injury time-out right before he served for the match and was repeatedly pumping himself up shouting out loud “come ons!”, Djokovic said the Brit pushed the boundaries of sportsmanship and ticked him off.
“It was not so much maybe about that, but it was maybe a combination of things,” Djokovic told the media in Rome. “From the very beginning, I don’t know, he was doing all the things that were allowed.
“He’s allowed to take a medical timeout. He’s allowed to hit a player. He’s allowed to say C’mon in the face more or less every single point from basically first game.
“Those are the things that we players know in the locker room it’s not fair play, it’s not how we treat each other.”
Similarly, Frances Tiafoe suggested Norrie isn’t bending rules, but knows how to push players’ buttons.
After losing to Norrie at Wimbledon last Wednesday, American Frances Tiafoe said vocal British fans didn’t bother him, but admitted Norrie’s constant screaming “come on!” did annoy him.
“I mean, he was super amped. He was saying, C’mon, from the first game, which is definitely annoying, but that part bothered me more than the crowd,” Tiafoe said.
That second set outburst from Jarry today seemed to fire the Chilean up for the third set.
Jarry saved a match point with a big forehand and volley winner at 5-6 in the third-set tiebreaker then smacked a forehand winner to seize the third-set breaker 9-7 to push the match into a fourth set.
