British tennis star Cameron Norrie issued an apology after accidentally striking a spectator with his racket during a 6-2, 6-3 loss to Facundo Díaz Acosta at the Auckland Classic. Frustrated after netting a shot that put Díaz Acosta on match point, Norrie tossed his racket backward, narrowly missing the fan’s face.
The spectator raised her hands to block the racket, but the incident ended in good spirits as she laughed it off. Norrie quickly apologized, both on the court and later in an interview with Radio New Zealand. “I apologized to the woman, and she was okay … it barely touched her, and she was laughing. But I didn’t mean to do that, and it was definitely a wake-up call,” Norrie stated.
The former world No. 8 received a warning but avoided disqualification. Reflecting on the incident, Norrie added, “As we saw with some other players, you can easily be defaulted if it catches them in the wrong spot or they’re not looking. I’m not happy with how I behaved.”
This incident echoes previous high-profile disqualifications, including Novak Djokovic at the 2020 US Open and Denis Shapovalov during a Davis Cup tie in 2017. Norrie is set to compete next at the Australian Open, aiming to improve on last year’s fourth-round appearance. Meanwhile, Díaz Acosta will face Sebastián Báez in the Round of 16.
Cameron Norrie in 2025
Now ranked no.48, the Brit played his last match on the 7th of January when he was defeated by world no.78 Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-2 6-3 in the 1st round in Auckland (draw).
At present, during this year the Brit has an overall 2-2 win-loss record.