Cameron Norrie was beaten in straight sets at the ASB Classic in New Zealand on Tuesday, but in a fit of rage, appeared to throw his racket in the air before it hit a spectator. 

The moment came prior to the British star suffering a 6-2, 6-3 defeat by Facundo Diaz, with his racket spinning out of control and landing in the audience sat behind the baseline.

The 29-year-old, who will tavel to Australia for next week’s Grand Slam in Melbourne, was given a warning by the chair umpire while none of the members of the audience were injured by the incident. 

After the defeat, Norrie apologised for the moment, telling reporters that it had served as a wake-up call, before revealing the patron he had hit had delivered an unexpected reaction in response to being struck by his racket. 

‘I just said sorry and she was laughing,’ the Brit said, explaining the situation. 

‘I said ‘so sorry – I didn’t mean to do that’. And she said: “Yeah I’m completely okay.”

Cam Norrie appeared to throw his racket in a fit of rage after he suffered a straight sets defeat by Facundo Diaz at the ASB Classic on Tuesday

Norrie has since apologised to the patron, who is understood to have laughed off the moment

‘And she was enjoying her champagne or whatever [so] not a big deal, but as you saw with some other players you can easily be defaulted if it catches them in the wrong spot or they are not looking or something.

‘I was not meaning to do that and it is completely not me, to do something like that, I apologised very quickly and I want to apologise in general, I’m not happy with how I behaved,’ he added.

In a separate statement, Norrie revealed his frustrations came from struggles with his timing. 

‘I was missing the ball a lot… I’m disappointed in my attitude, I couldn’t find the ball at all,’ he said. 

Norrie was seen speaking to the lady after the incident had taken place and said that he had apologised. 

‘I’m disappointed in my attitude, I couldn’t find the ball at all. I apologised to the woman, and she was OK… It barely touched her and she was laughing. But I didn’t mean to do that.’ 

Norrie was making his ninth appearance at the ASB Classic in Auckland following what’s been a frustrating year that saw him drop out of the ATP Tour’s top 50 rankings. 

While he had fought back to reach No 48 in the rankings, Norrie has had to battle through poor results and a bicep injury that had kept him out of action for nearly three months. 

Despite today’s loss, the Brit hasn’t been in particularly bad form in recent months, suffering defeat in the final of the ATP250 in Metz in November, before going on to be knocked out at the quarter-finals of the ATP250 in Hong Kong in December by Kai Nishikori.

Norrie endured a difficult 2024, having been ruled out for three months with a bicep injury before dropping out of the ATP Tour’s top-50 rankings 

But on Tuesday, some fans on social media lashed out at his behaviour. 

One fan wrote: ‘I’m sorry BUT if Scam Norrie isn’t from New Zealand at his home tournament he 100% gets defeated.

‘THAT HAS TO BE A DQ.’

‘I mean it’s def a point penalty. Still not as bad as Joker hitting linesman in the throat…

‘Literally she had to be hospitalized… that is key difference from a DQ vs Penalty,’ another fan wrote.

More to follow…