Tennis ace Cameron Norrie's jet-setting romance with girlfriend he fought for

It took a while for British tennis star Cameron Norrie’s girlfriend Louise Jacobi to be won over by her future partner. They first met in 2019 in New York at the US Openafter a mutual friend - one of his teammates - introduced them. There wasn’t an immediate spark, at least on her part and Norrie has previously admitted she "just wasn't interested" in him initially.

But it seems the only British hope left in the Wimbledon singles managed to work his magic though, just as he’ll be hoping to when he faces his next big challenge in the quarter finals on Tuesday afternoon. After a tough match against Chilean qualifier and Brit number three, Nicolas Jarry, 29 year old Norrie eventually triumphed in the fourth round.

He now goes on to play Carlos Alcaraz, the two-time reigning champion and second seed. Nervously watching and cheering him on from the players’ box in Centre Court will no doubt be his loyal, long-term girlfriend Louise, 35, who had certainly had a change of heart some time after their first meeting.

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They stayed in contact while he travelled the world and she remained in New York, where she was born and where she worked as a textile designer. However, when the company she was working for closed, she attended some of his tournaments and they started "hanging out".

Their first date was at the Vienna Open where he was playing. According to Hello! she said of the unconventional invite: "When he asked me, I thought, 'I guess this guy doesn't live a normal life, and it's not like I can meet [him] down the street and go to dinner together.'

"So I went on this trip and was only supposed to be in Vienna for five days, and things just went really well. In some weird way, I was like, 'Thank God I got laid off when I did' because we were able to build the foundation of our relationship before Covid hit."

Glamorous Jacobi has previously worked for Calvin Klein and was a consultant for Please Don’t Touch. She now runs her own homeware and fashion accessory shop, Studio Virgo.

Jacobi has described Norrie as, "very calm, very level-headed, easy-going and takes things as they come". She's clearly a great supporter of her boyfriend and recalls his fierce ambition right from the start. "I remember him saying when we first met: 'Oh, my dream would be to be in the top 10.'

"Back then I didn't know it was going to transpire, and just watching his hard work pay off has been insane,'" she said, according to The Sun.

While she has made friends with the partners of her Norrie’s rivals, she finds it tricky when their significant others compete. Speaking after Norrie beat David Goffin, who is married to Stephanie Tuccitto, at Wimbledon in 2022, Jacobi said: "It's difficult because these girls are so nice, and then our boyfriends have to play against each other.

"But for the most part, everyone has been really nice, really supportive - good camaraderie. Stephanie even retweeted 'congratulations.'"

Pursuing his professional career, Norrie lived in Putney, London, until 2022. But he was born in South Africa and raised in New Zealand from the age of three with older sister Bronwen, by his Glasgow-born dad David and Cardiff-born mum Helen - both microbiologists. He moved to England when he was 16 thanks to his love of tennis.

While Norrie and Jacobi spend much of their life jet-setting around the world for tennis matches, the couple have a plush apartment in Monaco. Back in 2023 when they were decorating it, Norrie, who loves to buy artwork, spoke to Tatler and revealed he was busy filling the walls with pieces while Louise was choosing the decor, no doubt thanks to her eye for design.

He told the magazine that although his life is pretty chaotic and he’s never in one place for too long, he likes to go back to the same restaurants and eat the same food because it gives him the sense of routine he’s missing. Louise, it seems, feels a little different.

"She gets p****d off," he laughed. "'Oh my God, let’s try something else,' she says, and I’m like, 'No, no, no, I like this place, they know me and I know what to expect.'"

Worrying about how much the bill is after dinner isn’t something the hugely successful pair have to concern themselves over though. Thanks to his consistent performances on court, Norrie’s net worth is estimated to be around £4.4million.

He has pocketed almost £9million in prize money from tournaments and has signed many lucrative sponsorship deals, including Babolat, Rado, and Lexus UK. Other endorsements include Ralph Lauren, Uber and Athletic Brewing.