Card games and coffees: How 'nightmare' Cameron Norrie is battling 'sneaky' long-standing coach Facundo Lugones ahead of Roland-Garros tilt
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Published 23/05/2026 at 13:22 GMT+1
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Cameron Norrie is hoping to cause his 2026 French Open opponents as many problems with a racket as the 'nightmares' he gives his coaching staff when it comes to playing card games.
Highlights: Norrie overcomes slow start to beat Gomez and progress at Roland-Garros
Video credit: TNT Sports
Preparations for Roland-Garros could have been smoother for the British No. 1, who suffered a second-round defeat to Argentina's Thiago Agustin Tirante at the Italian Open earlier this month.
The 17th seed fell 6-3 7-5 to Tirante, who is enjoying a career-high ranking of world No. 69, but the 30-year-old is already looking forward to making amends in the French capital.
Former Indian Wells winner and US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper has withdrawn from the French Open, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max, leaving Norrie to take the mantle and spearhead British interest in the men's draw.
He will face Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, who is making his Grand Slam debut, in the first round, with potential clashes with 16th seed Valentin Vacherot and fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on the horizon.
As with all camps involving professional athletes, the next fortnight will involve plenty of idle time for those progressing through the rounds - and the Brit has revealed his latest card game obsession, which is helping to counter any boredom in between training sessions.
"I'm a nightmare to play against," Norrie told reporters during a period away from the courts.
"We're playing for coffees, and we're playing this game called Skull King. It's a really good game. We're also playing Hearts. So like the typical playing cards. So those two games."
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Hearts is well-established, but what exactly is Skull King? Well, it is a trick-taking card game played over 10 rounds, where players try to correctly predict how many tricks they will win each round.
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Norrie reacts to 'tough day at the office' in third-round defeat to Zverev
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Norrie is embracing a carefree, rebellious, and adventurous existence in France as he looks to progress deep in the second major of the year.
"I have my whole team here with me," he added, name-checking his coach, fitness trainer and physio. "We have the perfect number to play both games, the four of us. I'm up 12 coffees!
"My coach [Facundo Lugones] is sneaky because he never comes to have coffee with us. He just keeps accumulating but never paying."
Norrie: I've learned to listen to my body more
Norrie, ranked 22nd in the world, was contesting his opening match of the tournament in Rome after a first-round bye but quickly found himself under pressure.
He dropped his opening service game and soon trailed 3-0 in the first set, which Tirante wrapped up in just 34 minutes with composed efficiency.
The second set proved a tighter contest, with both players trading holds of serve until Tirante edged ahead at 6–5.
The 25-year-old then closed out the match in emphatic fashion, sealing victory with a service game to love.
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Cameron Norrie obeat Thiago Agustin Tirante in Madrid only to lose to him in Rome
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Norrie’s exit brought to an end to British interest in the singles draws, following on from Katie Boulter’s first-round defeat to Germany’s Eva Lys in the women’s event.
A number of leading British players, including Jack Draper, Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal, are absent from Roland-Garros this year due to injury and illness setbacks.
When asked to analyse why British tennis stars have struggled to find fitness and form so far this season, Norrie added: "It's a good question. I think everyone is in different situations, differences in the way they play, the way they go about their business.
"It's not a personal thing. It's just I was maybe not honest enough with myself to think that I was tired.
"I was telling myself, 'I'm going to be okay. I should be good.' I need to listen to myself a bit more and communicate a bit better with my team. But everyone's different.
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"With Jack, he had something else going on. He had a big injury and then something else went on. With Sonay, I actually don't know too much about it, but everyone's different.
"It's frustrating, and it's hard being a professional athlete and dealing with these different things. You see it in all sports. I think at some point it's going to happen, it's going to come.
"Luckily, I have such a good team around me and I take advice from them all the time. It's good learning to listen to yourself a bit more about how you're feeling, rather than to just keep pushing and thinking everything is going to be good, because I feel I'm pretty lucky with my body.
"So far this year has been a good learning for me and, hopefully, I have the rest of the year to enjoy and play tennis. I don't think it's a big issue for me."
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