Leon Smith on Cameron Norrie’s tactical plan against Novak Djokovic

Cameron Norrie needs to take the challenge to defending champion Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-finals he faces perhaps the toughest test in tennis.

That is the view of Leon Smith, Head of Men’s tennis at the LTA and Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain, ahead of Norrie’s meeting with the six-time Wimbledon champion on Friday.

If Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros is the gold standard of tennis dominance with 14 titles, Djokovic’s recent record at Wimbledon is similarly impressive. He has not lost at the All England Club since 2017 and will be in his 11th semi-final as Norrie prepares for his first at Grand Slam level.

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Up against arguably the greatest returner the sport has ever seen, Smith knows that Norrie will need to raise his game another notch.

“It’s maybe the biggest test,” began Smith. “There’s Rafa at the French, Novak has won the last four titles here.

“He’s going to have to play very well. He’s going to have to take care of his service games against the best returner.

“I think he said it well that he is going to have to take it to him, without changing the way he plays. That’s important.

“You certainly can’t go out and try and blast the cover off the ball or start to serve-volley. Cam has got to be himself but he’s got to take it to him, maybe a few more risks, calculated risks.

“He has to really back up well what he does after first serve, he’s going to have to get a lot of first serves in and then back it up on ball three. He needs to try to