‘He does it always’ – Why Nicolas Jarry was incensed by Britain’s Cameron Norrie with umpire exchange in heated Wimbledon clash

Norrie looked to be heading his way to a relatively straightforward conclusion, and passage to the quarter-finals as he held firm on serve, not allowing a single break en route to taking a two-set lead.

But the manner in which he did so left Chilean qualifier Jarry enraged.

The world No. 143 – who was formerly ranked inside the top 20, but suffered a major drop after a diagnosis with vestibular neuritis, which can bring on symptoms such as extreme vertigo – took to his seat for the interval, and soon laid bare his feelings to the umpire, expressing his discontent over Norrie’s behaviour.

It appeared Jarry felt the British No. 3 was excessively bouncing the ball, in particular, pausing as if to gear up for his second serve, before bouncing it again. Meanwhile, Norrie said after the match that Jarry took issue over him being vocal on court.

The International Tennis Federation’s rule handbook states: “If the first service is a fault, the server shall serve again without delay from behind the same half of the court from which that fault was served,” but there is no specific rule addressing what exactly may constitute a “delay”.

Jarry argued to the umpire that Norrie should be penalised, and asked the umpire to explicitly state whether there is any rule concerning the perceived gamesmanship.

“The problem is, is it normal to do that when it affects the other player?” Jarry asked. “Do you have to interfere, do you have to interfere there, or do I have to suck it (up)?

“That’s the real issue, it doesn’t matter the reason, it’s the same as hitting the ball anywhere, it’s not intentional, but you have to apply the code as well. He can perfectly stop doing it, it’s not a nervous tick. It’s something he can control.

“That’s a reason for me to have to play with something that affects me. It can be changed. If there’s not a rule then tell me there’s not a rule and I can’t do anything about it.”

The umpire briefly spoke on the radio before responding to Jarry, saying Norrie’s actions had to be “intentional” in order to be punishable, and deemed his ball-bouncing and shouting not to fit that criteria.

The fierce exchange only seemed to fire up Jarry to raise his level, as he battled back to level the match, clinching the next two sets via a tie-break and forcing a decider.

But Norrie eventually saw through victory after four hours and 27 minutes on court, after which the pair became embroiled in a brief, heated exchange, before seemingly making amends with a second shake of hands and Jarry heading for the dressing room.

Drawn on their disagreement after the match, Norrie said: “He said I was a little bit vocal but that is my energy. I told him he competed so well and it was a great match. I loved the Chilean fans too and the crowd pulled me through at the end.”

It is not the first instance of an opponent taking issue with Norrie in a match. Following their Italian Open meeting in 2023, Novak Djokovic said the Brit was not playing “fair” after he hit the Serbian in the calf with a smash at the net – the 24-time Grand Slam winner having already turned his back in conceding the point.