The sky is the limit for Cameron Norrie as he continues his ascendancy at the US Open

Jan 04, 2024

By Annabel Sampson

Cameron Norrie relies on routine to keep him grounded. ‘I like to go back to the same restaurants.’ In London, Casa Cruz in Notting Hill is a favourite. Here, Norrie is styled in a crisp white GANT shirt with POLO RALPH LAUREN trousers and HARRYS LONDON trainers

In the August issue, deputy features editor Annabel Sampson met Jack Draper, who has stormed through to the second round of the US Open in straight sets

By Annabel Sampson

Norrie, Norrie, Norrie, oi oi oi!’ The chant that sends seismic ripples through the crowds at Wimbledon is beckoning. And Cameron Norrie is ready to challenge for the title. He has been for a while, since at least the Italian Open in May, when we first meet. Britain’s No 1 male tennis player is talking to me from a bistro in Rome, where he touched down that morning with Andy Murray. The big-serving left-hander has just polished off a prima of beef carpaccio and is ready for his seconda – gluten-free bucatini all’Amatriciana (he’s coeliac). He offers me a quick glimpse of the dish over FaceTime. Then it’s back to his familiar face, with its telltale tan, distinctive stubble and peaked K-Swiss cap, a silver chain around his neck. At the time we speak, his dinner plans for the next few weeks revolve around this establishment. He smiles: ‘I like to go back to the same restaurants, eat the same stuff.’ Much to the chagrin of Louise Jacobi, his 33-year-old, US-born interior-designer girlfriend. ‘She gets pissed off,’ Norrie laughs. ‘“Oh my God, let’s try something else,” she says, and I’m like, “No, no, no, I like this place, they know me and I know what to expect.”’

By Isaac Bickerstaff

By Ollie Macnaughton

By Annabel Sampson

Is Prince William Cameron Norrie’s lucky charm? ‘He’s never seen me lose!’ jokes the tennis star, pictured in POLO RALPH LAUREN and a BUDD LONDON bow tie, with a WIMBLEDON COLLECTION bag and RUSSELL & BROMLEY shoes

This is life on tour. In the whirlwind, jet-set world of this tennis prodigy, where time zones melt into one, routine is the guiding force. Following him from grand slam to grand slam, his rocksteady entourage includes Jacobi and his coaches, Facundo Lugones and Vasek Jursik. The ritual of eating is grounding. ‘Restaurants are the one thing us players get the chance to do to unwind,’ he says. In London, his favourite is Casa Cruz in Notting Hill. (‘It’s Argentinian,’ he says, just like his physio and coach, and they serve ‘everything good’.) Tequila and tiramisu follow his biggest wins – Norrie has a sweet tooth. Other habits? On the week of a tournament, he always uses ‘the third shower or bathroom down. I don’t know why: I just like the number three. So if someone’s using that shower, I’ll probably wait a little to use it,’ he says in his hard-to-place, intercontinental accent.

In Talter’s August issue, deputy features editor Annabel Sampson met Katie Boulter, Britain’s No.1 as she prepared for Wimbledon. Rediscover the interview following her latest on court success

By Annabel Sampson

These rituals are clearly working. At the time of writing, Norrie is ranked No 13 in the world – and it was at his nail-biting quarter-final match at Wimbledon last year that Prince William was caught on camera swearing in nerve-jangling anticipation. ‘[The Prince and Princess of Wales] got there when I was down two sets to one,’ Norrie says. ‘I’m glad they saw the good bits.’ Norrie went on to vanquish his opponent, Belgium’s David Goffin, in a five-setter, streaking into the championship’s semi-finals. So is Prince William his lucky charm? ‘He’s never seen me lose,’ he laughs. ‘It’s a 100 per cent record!’

By Isaac Bickerstaff

By Ollie Macnaughton

By Annabel Sampson

Cameron Norrie and girlfriend Louise Jacobi celebrating New Year’s Eve in Sydney last year

From real royalty to tech royalty and music royalty – at 27, Norrie knows them all. At the start of March, he was hanging out with Microsoft founder Bill Gates during Indian Wells, then later that month he found himself dining at Jon Bon Jovi’s Florida mansion. ‘He recently started loving tennis,’ Norrie explains, ‘and Louise knows his family. So I was in Miami and he invited me to his place for lunch and to hit with him.’ Norrie was blown away. ‘His house was insane… just so much cool artwork.’ He would know: ‘I started collecting three years ago,’ he says. ‘It’s pretty addictive; I’m always looking for more stuff.’ He owns several Damien Hirsts, although a painting of a wave by Maggi Hambling is his favourite piece – it hangs in his impeccably styled place in Putney. ‘I’m mesmerised by her stuff,’ he says. No surprise: it reminds him of when he used to swim in the ocean in New Zealand, where he grew up with his microbiologist parents (Glasgow-born David and Cardiff-born Helen) and older sister, Bronwen, before moving to England at 16 to pursue tennis.

By Isaac Bickerstaff

By Ollie Macnaughton

By Annabel Sampson

Norrie has filled his Putney flat with art, including several Damien Hirsts, and plans to do the same with his new place in Monaco. ‘I started collecting three years ago. It’s addictive,’ says the tennis player, dapper in POLO RALPH LAUREN

In 2019, he met Jacobi in New York during the US Open, introduced by one of his teammates. It wasn’t love at first sight; Jacobi was tied to a job in New York and Norrie was travelling the world. But they carried on speaking to each other, and when the business Jacobi was working for closed, ‘she came to a few tournaments and then we just kept hanging out’. More than four years later, they are embarking on glamorous next steps together. First up? An apartment in Monaco – which has walls to fill. Cameron Norrie, a backgammon fanatic, has commissioned American artist Gigi Collins to paint him a ‘Backgammon in Monaco’ oil-on-canvas – but there is more to come. ‘I’ll buy a not-so-expensive $30,000 painting, and then Louise, who’s buying new furniture for the place in Monaco, will see something, and I’m like, “No, no, that’s too expensive.” And she’s like, “What are you talking about? You just spent that on a painting and you can’t buy a bedside table for $1,000?”’ It’s swings and roundabouts: mid-interview, Jacobi starts winding Norrie’s bucatini around her fork. Love all, it seems.

Channel Tatler’s August cover stars and take advantage of hotels that offer good sport and good leisure. Game, set, match.

By Delilah Khomo

This summer is full of promise for both of them. Jacobi looks set to dethrone Kim Murray as the First Lady of British tennis: newspapers went wild profiling ‘Norrie’s secret weapon’ at the grand slam last year, and a victorious courtside kiss sent the paparazzi into a frenzy. Although for Norrie, it’s not media attention but the children waiting in line to meet their hero that hits home. ‘[I love it] when the kids are pumped. They always say, “Give me a shirt, give me a racket.” I used to be one of those kids,’ he says. While he’s happy to embrace the fanfare, he did find the fanatical recognition he received around Putney last year a little too much: suddenly, he was recognisable, adored and crowded. Because, for all his chilled demeanour, Norrie is said to push himself to insane levels during fitness training. ‘World No 1 is my goal,’ he says, ‘and Wimbledon champion, it has to be.’ With tequila and tiramisu to follow, no doubt.