Cameron Norrie, the last Brit still alive in the men’s singles bracket at Wimbledon, was probably not expecting to get a question about the dating life of Emma Raducanu in the press conference following his third-round win. But that’s exactly what he got. And it was as awkward as it sounds.
The question started innocently enough, with a reporter congratulating Norrie on his win over Mattia Bellucci. Then, things got weird.
“Apart from everyone here loving tennis, some of the gossip has been about who Emma Raducanu is dating,” the reporter said. “Can I ask if you’re dating her? Can we get to the bottom of this, please?”
Norrie, who was obviously (and understandably) not expecting such a question, asked for it to be repeated.
“We’re trying to find out who’s dating Emma Raducanu and it seems to be going around all the men’s singles,” the reporter said. “I was wondering if you’re dating her, please?”
“I’m not, no,” Norrie replied. “You can ask her, though.”
If it wasn’t obvious why questions like this shouldn’t be asked before, it certainly should be now. Once the questioning went down that road, it was never not going to be awkward.
That said, we have to credit Norrie for handling the oddball question as gracefully as possible.