THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 6, 2022

Facundo Lugones

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Happy birthday.

FACUNDO LUGONES: Thanks (smiling).

Q. You know how good Cam has been, working so hard on the tour, but how he has handled the intensity and pressure of a Wimbledon fortnight so far at home?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Yeah, I think that was the biggest thing, the last couple days, how composed he was, how he was able to stay patient and deal with everything and just take it just like another match. I think that's why he's in the semis.

Q. We've seen him run over every inch of the court. We know about his staying power. Is there anything from his training that he does that can illustrate why he has all that energy, just how sort of strong he is in that regard?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Yeah, he does a lot of fitness, probably more than anyone. 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, 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.

Yeah, that's why in the fifth set he looked actually more comfortable than at the beginning of the match.

Q. The red zone, what kind of heart rate does he get up to?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Just really, really high. And he can stay on that for six, seven minutes, no problem.

Q. What rate?

FACUNDO LUGONES: 200.

Q. Six or seven minutes he can do?

FACUNDO LUGONES: I think a normal person can't even do a minute and a half on that. Can probably, I don't know, die. Would be close to passing out. He can play tennis for eight, nine minutes on that.

Q. Does Cam ever lose his temper?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Yeah, I think everyone does. But he works a lot on it. He learn from different experiences to stay patient and try to allow himself to find a level and stay calm in those moments.

But, yeah, he can definitely lose it sometimes. He worked a lot on it. He's having good results.

Q. Is there an example where he did? There must be times when he was throwing his teacups in the dressing room or something.

FACUNDO LUGONES: Yeah, I think in Lyon this year a couple times he was really stressed. But, again, he was able to snap out of it and get back to what he was doing.

Yeah, it's impossible to go entire year without losing your temper sometimes. But I think the key is to be able to get it back quick and not let that carry over for a whole set or a whole match.

But, yeah, it can happen.

Q. How different is the Cam who's in the Wimbledon semifinals to the Cam who was at college? What has been the biggest keys to his development?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Well, so many things. But now he's a man. 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.

Q. Do you think he's underestimated still? Is that an advantage that you try and take advantage of? Have people gotten used to knowing that this is who he is right now, and this is what he's capable of? Did you ever, seeing these results, underestimate where he could go?

FACUNDO LUGONES: No, no, you never want to sell Norrie short.

Yeah, I don't know. He doesn't get the hype that other players get for similar results. But I don't think he cares about that. If anything, it motivates him to do better and be in these moments more often. Makes him work extra harder and try to get to the situations more and more.

Maybe he was underestimated, but we don't really care. Doesn't really matter what people say or think. At the end of the day, the results are what matter.

Q. Slightly techy question. Can you perhaps explain for people who don't follow tennis sort of year-round, Cam's backhand is a slightly unusual stroke, being commented on quite a lot. Can you talk about the evolution of it and why it is very effective.

FACUNDO LUGONES: Well, that's probably one of the keys, that it's so different than everyone else's backhand. It's also coming from the deuce side as a lefty. A lot of players can hit it like that, but most of them are righty.

When you have that shot going to the forehand, you can rush them, keep the ball really low and hard, it's really uncomfortable for most players because they're not used to. I think it's just Cam and Mannarino that hit the backhand like that. There's only two guys on the whole tour who can do it.

Yeah, now it's a little bit more variety. He uses the backhand line a lot more. He can use the slice. Before it was just his backhand cross, now he add a little different things to it to give him some variety.

But, yeah, it's pretty unique backhand.

Q. When you joined up with him, did he always hit it like this?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Yeah. I didn't touch anything technically on his backhand. It was always like this. A little bit more his footwork, what he wants to do with it maybe, the mindset, how to use the backhand in different situations.

Technically it's been like that since he started, I think.

Q. You've obviously been with Cam for such a long time. He had his family in his box, people in his box that have been there since the Texas days as well. How big a factor has that been in his development, keeping his team close-knit like that, consistent?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Yeah, yeah, he likes consistency. He's a very consistent person. Mainly it's because he kept the same circle for years. Being on tour with him five years plus two years in university, it's almost like seven years. Devin Bowen, who was his coach at TCU, is still involved. James Trotman, who was his coach before he went to TCU, is still involved. He basically have the same three coaches for 10 years or more. Then obviously his family. Now his team. His fitness trainer has been with us for three years, the physio close to four years.

Yeah, for him is really important to have people around him he can trust with anything. We're going to push him. He believes in us. I think he is happy with that team. That gives him a lot of consistency. That's what he wants.

Q. You mentioned Cam perhaps wants to be more recognized for his achievements. Why do you think that is?

FACUNDO LUGONES: I didn't say that. I didn't say he wants to be more recognized.

Q. You mentioned that he perhaps doesn't get the credit he deserves then.

FACUNDO LUGONES: Well, it's different than he wanted the credit.

I don't think he wants it. He wants to win matches, get better, and let the results do the talking. Doesn't change a thing for him, I think.

Q. You don't think it will change his perceptions on his life, career?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Exactly. I don't think so.

Q. Cam's family has talked about the calming effect his girlfriend has on him. What sort of impact does she have on his game? During tournaments do they see more of each other or are they kept apart for his head?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Yeah, kind of the same thing with his team. A lot of consistency, the same people around him, the same energy, the same people you go to dinner, you hang out. No distractions.

I think she had a really good impact on him, especially off the court, just keeping things the same, keeping him happy, made him mature a lot and grow as a person. That shows in his career as well.

Q. Why do you call him your chicken?

FACUNDO LUGONES: That was a long time ago. In Argentina when you're taking care of someone, you call them like your chicken, like you're taking care of him.

When I started traveling with him, all my friends would ask me, How is your chicken doing, in Spanish. That's why I call him like that. That's kind of the reason about that.

He became a dog now. He's not a chicken anymore (smiling).

Q. You've spoken about being around him for seven years. What is your personal dynamic with Cameron? Do you laugh? Do you clash? Where do you stand?

FACUNDO LUGONES: No, we don't clash that much. We have a great relationship. Pretty much the same that when we started. Very respectful of each other. Off the court we talk about anything. We're friends. When we're in tennis, really, really professional, very serious.

Maybe we don't spend that much time off the court now because he has his girlfriend, has his own place now. I stay somewhere else. Maybe we spend less time off the court, but the quality of the time and the way we do things is pretty much the same.

Q. Cam said his most improved shot is his forehand. How have you seen it evolve? What were the weaknesses when you first started working with him compared to now?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Yeah, his forehand and maybe his serve I think are the most improved shots. His forehand, I always thought he could have a better forehand, be more aggressive, be more proactive, look to win a lot of points with it.

When he has that mindset, his forehand is really good. He can have any forehand: the flat one, the heavy, the cross angle, down the line. I think, yeah, that was probably his biggest tennis improvement, was his forehand.

Q. Was he more tentative when he was young?

FACUNDO LUGONES: More tentative? He didn't believe in it as much. Didn't work on it that much. We worked so much on it. His mindset also changed and gave him confidence that he could have a top forehand.

Q. What does Cameron do to unwind from tennis? What are his interests apart from tennis?

FACUNDO LUGONES: He plays a lot of games with his fitness trainer, Vasek, card games. Plays backgammon. Plays Ludo. Plays always for coffees. They compete, and they keep track of the coffees they owe to each other.

He needs to stay competing all the time. He can't unwind from competition.

Q. What card games?

FACUNDO LUGONES: I don't even know the name. I don't play because I don't want to be playing every single day and be there competing. But he needs to compete at everything.

Q. Backgammon just for coffees or for money as well sometimes?

FACUNDO LUGONES: Coffee mostly, coffees. He's not going to make his fitness trainer go broke because he wins all the time. Like 20 coffees down I think sometimes.