Like the rest of you, I’ve been watching a lot of Cam Norrie lately. Last week he emerged as the latest ATP breakout star champion as he won the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in stunning style.
Norrie solved the Nikolay Basilashvili puzzle to win the final yesterday 36 64 61. Basilashvili bashed his way to within six points of the title but Norrie’s counterpunching, fighting spirit and clever play proved to be too much.
All week I kept wondering that Norrie reminded me facially of someone but I could not figure out his doppleganger until the second set yesterday when it finally hit me. Cam Norrie looks a lot like Al Secord. And the resemblance is a lot more than just external appearance.
As a tennis enthusiast you probably never heard of Al Secord. He was a unique star player as a left wing back in the 1980’s NHL. The Sudbury, Ontario native played a tough and tumble style of hockey but he also had exceptional skills as an offensive player, talented enough to score 54 goals in 1982-83 for Chicago Blackhawks and in two other seasons he scored 44 an 40 goals.
But not only was Secord one of the most productive offensive stars in the NHL he was also a very good fighter and enforcer who protected his teammates when necessary, and back then in the NHL, violence and intimidation were a larger factor in how the sport was contested. Every NHL team had at least two or three tough guy fighters in their lineups. Secord scored a lot of goals but he also dropped the gloves a lot and fought all the biggest, baddest, most intimidating tough guys in the NHL, totaling over 2,000 penalty minutes in his career and surpassing 300 PIM once and 200 twice. It was unusual that such a valuable offensive player would fight so much, as most teams employed enforcers and fighters to play the “tough guy” role but Secord was a special guy and he didn’t mind the extra, dangerous work of using his fists to punch opponents while also getting hit in the head himself. Secord opted not to wear a helmet in his NHL career.
Secord would play in the NHL from 1978 to 1990 for the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers. Then after his professional hockey career, Secord chose another challenging career – he became a pilot for American Airlines, a job he still does today at age 63. Secord currently resides in Texas.
Cam Norrie certainly has some Al Secord qualities as he is a smart fighter on the court and he also has defensive and offensive weapons that can stymie the best players on the ATP World Tour including Grigor Dimitrov, Diego Schwartzman, Taylor Fritz, Andrey Rublev, Denis Shapovalov, Nick Kyrgios, Aslan Karatsev, Lloyd Harris, Dominic Thiem, Karen Khachanov, Maric Cilic and Fabio Fognini.
The Johannesburg, South Africa born Norrie, now 26 years old, has won 98 career ATP matches and two ATP singles titles. He’s currently ranked 15 in the world. Norrie is 47-20 in 2021 and 98-80 overall in his career.
Like Secord, who I remember well as a player, scorer and fighter, Norrie is not especially elegant or graceful on the court, his technique and form will not win any style awards but they are highly effective and productive. Norrie, who played college tennis at Texas Christian University, can handle big pace and then put the ball where he wants to. He has consistency, high court IQ, total self belief and a drive to be the best. Norrie has said he wants to be world no. 1, so obviously he has the confidence that quest and goal can be obtained.
Yesterday, Norrie took a major step in proving to the world that he has what it takes to win a Grand Slam title and perhaps maybe even become the best tennis player in the world someday.
Norrie may be one of the most ordinary looking pro tennis players you will ever see, but his results are extraordinary.
*****
Paula Badosa of Spain won her first big WTA title besting Viktoria Azarenka 76 26 76. The former Roland Garros junior champ has emerged in the last year as an elite WTA player and a threat to win a Grand Slam title in 2022.
Check out the Paula Badosa Biofile interview I did with her here
Su-Wei Hsieh and Elise Mertens followed up their Wimbledon title by winning the women’s doubles vs Kudermetova and Rybakinov in straight sets.
John Peers and Filip Polasek, the 7 seeds, won the doubles title vs unseeded Rublev and Karatsev 63 76.
AL Secord · BNP Paribas Open · Cam Norrie · Chicago Blackhawks
