“Now he’s a man” – Facundo Lugones, coach of Cameron Norrie, details the Brit’s insane workout regimen

Most people will never see their heart rate rise to 200 beats per minute, let alone spend afternoons enjoying the sensation. But Cameron Norrie, the ninth-seeded Brit who reached his first Wimbledon semi-final on Tuesday with a 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 triumph over David Goffin, longs for exactly that particular type of duress.

Speaking to media on Thursday, Norrie’s coach Facundo Lugones detailed just how much of a glutton for punishment the 26-year-old is when he trains.

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“He does a lot of fitness, probably more than anyone,” Lugones, the 2021 ATP Coach of the Year, told reporters. “I don’t even know how much other players do, but it would be hard to beat how many hours Cam does, especially when he’s fitness training with Vasek [Jursik], do some really intense conditioning sessions on the court where he stays in that red zone where the heartbeat is just insane. He stays in that area for long periods of time. He’s still able to execute and manages to play tennis at a decent level when he’s in that state.

“That’s why in the fifth set he looked actually more comfortable than at the beginning of the match.”

200 BPM for 8-9 minutes

Lugones was asked just what he meant by “red zone” and elaborated.

“Really, really high,” he said. “And he can stay on that for six, seven minutes, no problem.”

Enquiring minds wanted to know: How high?

“200,” Lugones said, referring to the beat-per-minute count. Yikes.

“I think a normal person can’t even do a minute and a half on that,” he said. “Can probably, I don’t know, die. Would be close to passing out. He can play tennis for eight, nine minutes on that.”

“Now he’s a man” – Lugones on Norrie

In addition to being impressed by the Brit’s ability to put himself through the ringer while training, Lugones says he is generally impressed by all the steps that Norrie has made since he left the college ranks to become a professional.

“Now he’s a man,” Lugones said. “Before he was just a kid. I mean, his maturity, the way he goes about his business. It’s still improving all day. He’s really, really mature.

“His tennis now is his priority number one, where before he had a lot of different things going on. Maybe tennis was really important, but it was not the only thing.”

Norrie, who reached his first major semi-final this week at Wimbledon, is the fourth British man in Open Era history to reach the final four at Wimbledon. He joins Andy Murray, Tim Henman and Roger Taylor.

He will face Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals on Friday.

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