A confused and surprised Cameron Norrie had to ask a journalist to repeat himself after being asked if he was dating Emma Raducanu in a press conference at Wimbledon.
Great Britain’s best remaining hope at the All England Club Norrie had just booked his place in the fourth round of his home Grand Slam when he was bizarrely asked about Raducanu’s love life.
Raducanu, whose encouraging Wimbledon run was ended by world number one Aryna Sabalenka, denied speculation she was dating men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz before the tournament.
‘We’re just good friends,’ she said when asked if she was in a relationship with Alcaraz, who she will play alongside in the new US Open mixed doubles tournament next month.
Norrie was bizarre asked if he was dating Raducanu following his impressive third-round straight-sets win over Mattia Bellucci.
While Norrie keeps his private life relatively quiet, he has a long-term girlfriend who has supported him at most of his matches at the All England Club.
As Norrie fielded questions about his victory over Bellucci and run at Wimbledon more generally, a journalist said: ‘Apart from everyone here loving tennis, some of the gossip has been about who Emma Raducanu is dating.
‘Can I ask if you’re dating her? Can we get to the bottom of this please?’
Norrie was visibly confused by the question and replied: ‘I’m sorry?’
The reporter continued: ‘I’m trying to find our who’s dating Emma Raducanu. It seems to be going around all of the men’s singles players. I was wondering if you were dating her, please?’
‘I’m not, no,’ Norrie said. ‘You can ask her [that question]. I don’t know.’
Norrie continued to look baffled by the line of questioning as another journalist began asking about his fourth-round opponent, Nicolas Jarry.
The 29-year-old is eyeing up a deep run at the All England Club having reached the semi-finals of this tournament back in 2022 before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
A number of social media users described the line of questioning as ’embarrassing’ and ‘pathetic’.
Sports writer Molly McElwee branded the incident ‘disgusting’, ‘shameless’ and ‘sexist’ in a column for The i Paper.
More to follow…
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