Cameron Norrie did what he could. Rather than easing into a long best-of-five-sets match, he played at full throttle from the beginning, pulverising forehands and forcing himself inside the baseline at all costs. He worked through every shot in his arsenal, frequently sweeping forward to the net. He punctuated each small victory with booming cries of “Allez”.

In tennis, however, matchups are king and past battles between Norrie and Alexander Zverev had already illustrated how the German’s game is built to outlast and overpower his British opponent. Their seventh meeting produced one of their most high-quality matches but the result was no different as Zverev, the third seed, secured a tough 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over the 26th seed to advance to the fourth round.

Norrie, the last British singles player in the tournament, departs Australia with another solid grand slam showing despite his defeat. He has enjoyed a successful 12 months at the top tournaments, winning every match he has been expected to win. Only the best players in the world have been able to defeat him in the past four majors: Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic at the French and US Opens, and now Zverev in Melbourne. For all the grit, discipline and spirit he showcases every time he steps on the court, ­Norrie lacks the firepower to consistently beat the top names.

This matchup is particularly reflective of those struggles. Zverev entered John Cain Arena with six wins and no defeats against Norrie and their spectacular fourth-round match here in 2024, which Zverev won in a fifth set tie-break after four hours of spectacular, uncharacteristic net rushing from the left-hander, was the only occasion Norrie had won a set against the German. Every other meeting had taken a similar route, with Zverev matching Norrie’s physicality and eventually overpowering him with his far greater serve and ball speed.

One of the 30-year-old’s most admirable qualities is his self-awareness. He takes pride in the attritional style of play that has earned him so much success. However, he also understood that far more would be required against Zverev. Instead of futilely attempting to grind the ­German down, he tried his best to break through his defences. He approached the net 40 times, continually attacked his forehand and mixed in numerous drop shots.

Norrie played well, but not well enough to turn the tables on one of his most difficult opponents. Still, he believes that this result will serve him well: “I think it’s another bit of experience to push yourself in those moments, third round of a grand slam against one of the best players in the world,” he said. “I think I just need to get better. There’s nothing else, but I know I can hang with him for two hours 30 and I dropped after that. They’re used to playing at that level for long periods of time. So I think that’s how I see it, so I can take a lot of confidence from that.

“But how can I sustain that for longer? For him, I think it’s normal, and for me I’m feeling like I’m pushing, pushing, pushing. Then I drop a little bit, and then, boom, it’s match done very quickly. It’s a lot of credit to him, but I think I can take a lot from this match and a lot of confidence from getting through a couple of tough matches.”

Norrie was understandably in good spirits when he emerged after the match. Life is good. Nine months ago, he was ranked 91st and desperately struggling to find any confidence.

At the beginning of this long ­season, he sits at No 25 in the live rankings, feeling confident about his game and enjoying his time on the court, even in defeat. He has plenty of room to improve and the potential to continue rising, particularly if he performs more consistently at the smaller events. The challenge ahead is exciting.

“I can’t be any more happy where I am,” he said. “It will always be nice to be higher, but I think the most ­important thing is I’m healthy, I’m feeling confident, I have a great team, there’s no stress anywhere else in my life.

“So I’m enjoying everything, and I think that’s so much fun to come to these slams, play these matches, and just compete as hard as I can. I’m looking forward to the year, and I want to keep going out there and playing matches like this where I can push myself and challenge these guys.”