Alcaraz and Norrie's challenge in the quarterfinals: the college left-hander with huge lungs who plays at home

Carlos Alcaraz remains ensconced on the magic green carpet he's transformed the grass of Wimbledon's Centre Court into. He's won 18 consecutive times there, and 22 this season since the Conde de Godó final. He maintains a streak of control, confidence, power, superiority, and calmness—a great deal of calmness. He demonstrated this against Andrey Rublev in the round of 16 and aims to continue that path in the quarterfinals against Cameron Norrie.

"Facing Cam is very difficult. We've had some great battles. He's like a nightmare, very tough at heart. When he lost at Queen's, I saw him train morning, noon, and night. So I'm not surprised by his level. And he's playing at home, with his fans. Playing against a left-hander is always a bit tricky; when they get the advantage, it's harder. I know I have to be very focused," Alcaraz warned about this British tennis player who works and works and works.

Norrie confirms that it's different playing against a player like him. My serve and backhand are perhaps a little more effective. And the ball bounces less. I think many players aren't as used to seeing the ball come from so low.

He's a different kind of tennis player, both in his style and the path he's taken to the elite. Born in South Africa, Norrie (29 years old and ranked 61st in the world, having reached number 8 in 2022) is a globetrotter, having lived in New Zealand, his mother is Welsh, and his father is Scottish. He decided to defend the British flag in 2013 and study at university in the United States. However, he feels like a Londoner, where he goes whenever there's a break in the season and where he's now hailed as the local idol that English tennis needs to follow the successes of Andy Murray. He's also different because of that journey between academics and tennis, which is almost an exception in this highly competitive world where professionalism is promoted above all else.

Norrie, who played rugby while living in New Zealand and has a tattoo of the Argentine Pumas Panther, was a great talent in the junior category, but between 2015 and 2017, he preferred to cultivate his mind and academic resume by studying Sociology at the Catholic University of Texas. As he told this newspaper, he didn't completely abandon tennis, but accepted that he wasn't quite ready physically or mature enough to make the jump to professional level. "I felt like I wasn't ready and I wanted to have a more normal life, go to classes, be with my friends, go out on weekends. When I finished, I realized I was even hungrier for tennis, to play again and feel good on the court. I came out at my peak to enter the professional circuit."

And he also came out of college with a curious quality that allowed him to improve his physical preparation. "I took a random test in college, and they told me, 'You must be a deep-sea diver or something because you have enormous lungs.' That gave me a lot of confidence for cardio training. And I can recover well from long exchanges. I think it's false confidence, but it doesn't matter. I take it that way."

From then on, it was 100 percent tennis. He entered the top 100 in his first year and, since 2021, has achieved his best results. Five titles: Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and Los Cabos in 2021; Delray Beach and Lyon in 2022; and Rio de Janeiro in 2023 (won precisely against Alcaraz). That duel was the last of the six the Briton and Spaniard have played.

He won the first three Alcaraz: first round of the 2021 US Open (6-4, 6-4 and 6-3), quarter-finals of Indian Wells 2022 (6-4 and 6-3), and round of 16 of the Mutua Madrid Open 2022 (6-4, 6-7 (4) and 6-4). In Cincinnati 2022 it was Norrie who took the victory by a tight 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4) and 6-4; Alcaraz won the final in Buenos Aires (6-3 and 7-5) before Norrie prevailed in the Rio final a few weeks later, with Alcaraz injured, it must be said (5-7, 6-4 and 7-5). In addition, he has on his resume a victory against Rafael Nadal at the 2023 United Cup and was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2022, where he lost to Djokovic.

Although he's also had to put his head down and start from scratch after a forearm injury dropped him to 91st in recent months. There was tennis, though, and he just had to wait for the opportunity. The one he earns now in the best possible position, in front of his own fans. A situation that will test the endurance of Alcaraz, who has been the favorite in the Central until now, but has never faced a British player before.

The match between Carlos Alcaraz and Cameron Norrie is scheduled for this Tuesday, July 8, on the second round of the Wimbledon Centre Court. The match begins at 2:30 p.m. in Spain, with the duel between Aryna Sabalenka and Laura Siegemund; therefore, the Alcaraz-Norrie match will begin around 4:00 p.m.

The match between Alcaraz and Rublev will be broadcast on Movistar+, the platform that holds the rights to the London Grand Slam.

And you can follow the minute-by-minute news and all the tournament information on ABC.es