Cameron Norrie has no mercy when it comes to dealing with his opponent. After lopping off a man’s hair and brutally throttling him with an ace at Wimbledon last summer, a less volatile British tennis player would have gone looking for something besides a whistle to smirk at. But Norrie doesn’t smile. At all. At his post-match press conference after defeating Roger Federer in the first round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday, Norrie, a 21-year-old South African born in the United Kingdom, sarcastically offered his cross-examiner a cow’s hoof.
Actually, it’s a cool, teeny-tiny horse’s foot. Maybe four or five toes. But we’re guessing: It’s a teeny-tiny horse’s foot. And yet it won’t stop Norrie from his second-round upset of No. 3-ranked Federer in just the wee hours of Thursday morning. And then tomorrow evening, Norrie will face two-time defending champion Stan Wawrinka.
Not bad for a flier from a club in England’s University town of Worcester — even if the sun is finally shining over the Grand Canyon.
Norrie, who said he’s never even been to the United States, became the highest seeded British male in the U.S. Open since 1990 after Wednesday’s win. Now he’s set to face No. 12 Juan Martin del Potro in the second round.
His post-match press conference was perhaps the most meme-worthy of any player so far in this year’s Open.
How would you like to be Zaha?
When asked what Federer was making of the game from his box, no response was forthcoming. The cheeky tennis agent proceeded to set up a serve and serve.
But that was apparently too simple.
So an even smarter player came up with something completely different: