New British No 1 Cam Norrie won the biggest title of his career in new shoes after cleaners threw away his three old pairs before the final. Andy Murray reported his “smelly” tennis shoes – with his wedding ring attached – missing from his Californian hotel before they were recovered.
But before the final of the BNP Paribas Open, Norrie arrived at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to find his sneakers had disappeared and he had to break in a new pair against Nikoloz Basilashvili.
The new world No 15 lost the first set before fighting back to win his first Masters title.
Norrie will now be able to buy a cupboard full of new trainers after banking $1,209,730 (£880,990).
But the London-based star said: “Every day I left my shoes on top of the locker.
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“A couple of times I was just thinking about it, probably not the best thing. You don’t want to be thinking about your shoes. A little bit to get used to.
“At one point I said, ‘All right, these are the shoes I got, I’m just going to focus on what I can control right now’. I wore them in a little bit, came good in the end.”
His coach Facundo Logones added: “It’s very strange situation. But credit to Cam. He never panicked. For anyone who has played tennis at a decent level, it’s very tough to play with brand-new shoes. Then you come to play the biggest match of your career and you don’t have your shoes. He was able to get through.
“I’m really proud about that, because maybe one or two years ago with this situation, he would have gone away or found an excuse and blamed it on the shoes. The reality is we couldn’t do anything to change it. He dealt with it, he found a way. I think that’s what I’m really proud of.”
