There is an irony that Norrie has been the man left carrying the flag in 14 Grand Slams over the past five years.<\/p>\n
He was born in South Africa, grew up in New Zealand, switched allegiance when he was 16 and then went into the American college system.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt Norrie, a grinder with limited weapons, has maximised his talents superbly.<\/p>\n
Few would have predicted him to become a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2022 and reach the world’s top 10 as a result.<\/p>\n
That leads to an argument that Norrie possesses a mentality which some of his British colleagues have been accused of lacking.<\/p>\n
There is one obvious name who did not lack the minerals. For so long, Andy Murray was the epicentre of British tennis. <\/p>\n
In the aftermath of the three-time major champion’s retirement almost 18 months ago, there was cause for optimism.<\/p>\n
Strong showings by Britain’s next generation at the 2024 US Open provided a feelgood factor for those worrying how the void might be filled.<\/p>\n
Then, Draper had just reached the Flushing Meadows semi-finals. Raducanu was making sound progress in her first season back from wrist operations.<\/p>\n
Now, Draper has missed the Australian Open having played one match in six months as questions about his physical durability linger.<\/p>\n
Raducanu has just suffered one of the most demoralising Grand Slam defeats of her career, mitigated by an off-season beset by a foot injury, with seemingly more introspection about where she is heading.<\/a><\/p>\n On Britain’s lack of main-draw wins in Melbourne, Norrie told BBC Sport: “It has been a bit unfortunate but I think we all need to stay patient – there are some good players coming through.<\/p>\n “There are so many great coaches and there is no reason why there won’t be more [players] inside the top 100. I think there will be one moment where it all clicks.”<\/p>\n Britain had a record nine men and two women in the Australian Open qualifying draw this year.<\/p>\n