Cameron Norrie is the first Brit to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in five years after beating Tommy Paul

CAMERON NORRIE became the first Brit to finish in the last eight at Wimbledon in five years.

The last remaining native player in singles defeated American Tommy Paul 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in front of an enthusiastic Court One crowd.

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And South African-born Norrie has taken the baton bequeathed by two-time winner Andy Murray, who last reached the quarter-finals in 2017.

The nervous Nozza is already breaking new ground, having failed to make it past the third round in any of his previous 18 Grand Slams.

He’s now sliding into week two of the world’s biggest tennis tournament and is feeling more and more at home on the SW19 lawn.

He has already been dubbed ‘The Dog’ by his regular training partner Paul, who marvels at how the athletic British number one tenaciously fights for every single point in a game.

And there were times when left-hander Norrie lived up to his reputation in the sixth game of the first set, where he had four break points before finally holding.

Ninth-seeded Norrie meets David Goffin in the battle for a place in the last four on Tuesday. The Belgian beat Frances Tiafoe in a four and a half hour five seater marathon earlier in the day.

But he’s the favorite for another stunning win with an opportunity to meet defending champion Novak Djokovic in Friday’s semifinals.

Norrie took the field as the last person to stand for Team GB in singles. Heather Watson had just been beaten in straight sets by German Jule Niemeier.

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The relative ease with which he dispatched pal Paul over 2 hours and 21 minutes is a huge relief to those flying the flag during the two-week Wimbledon flag.

Norrie, 26, said: “I’m shocked to make it to the quarter-finals for the first time. Playing a match like that, huge match for me, and playing the way I did it was really good. I really enjoyed it. It was pretty crazy, lots of feelings.”

17 Brits took part in the first round draw and Norrie has urged the home crowd to back him all the way.

He said: “I’m the last one left so why not get some more behind me? Everyone supported me from the first lap and that showed in the tougher situations. When I served for the game, I had many scenarios in mind and I was able to complete it.

“If you see me here in 2017, I wasn’t very patient, I wanted everything to happen very quickly.

“I got chopped up in the first round so I’ve matured a lot and stayed very patient with myself. Grass was probably not my favorite surface, but maybe one day in the future.”

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