Chris Eubanks presents cash to Grand Slam champion after breaking British hearts
Christopher Eubanks supplied to donate his Wimbledon prize cash to a four-time Grand Slam champion after beating Cameron Norrie within the second spherical on Friday. The American hopeful managed to down his opponent in 4 units on Court One to register one of many greatest victories of his profession up to now and break the hearts of the British followers in attendance on the All England Club.
The outcome marked a welcome turnaround for Eubanks, who had struggled on grass earlier this yr earlier than receiving some useful recommendation from Kim Clijsters. The six-time Grand Slam winner urged Eubanks to enhance his footwork and her phrases of knowledge paid dividends, with the 27-year-old happening to win his maiden ATP singles title in Mallorca earlier this month.
His kind on grass continued to enhance at Wimbledon as he condemned Norrie to a shock defeat in spherical two, after which he promised to offer Clijsters a few of his prize cash if she asks for a fee.
“If she asks, she’s gonna get it,” mentioned Eubanks. “She’s a big, big contributing factor to I think some of the success, just keeping my mind fresh and keeping me up in spirits when I wasn’t.”
When requested to elucidate simply how a lot he has improved since taking Clijsters’ recommendation on board, he added: “That’s a very different person now, I can tell you that much. I’m loving the grass right now. That person who texted Kim was not too high on it. Very different.”
Eubanks posted a tweet after his triumph in Mallorca earlier this month to offer credit score to Ciljsters, who suggested him on the right way to familiarize yourself with grass courts in a Whatsapp change that started with the American saying: “Kim! Grass is the stupidest surface to play tennis on.”
Clijsters was fast to supply a serving to hand to Eubanks as she replied: “I understand your frustration, I always had a tough time on it too. Especially with my movement. Try to do some little footwork drills every day in practice, even some mini-tennis games. Only use open racket and play in two service boxes. Stay low, use your slice on FH [forehand] and BH [backhand] side. Just for footwork.”
It stays to be seen if Eubanks will proceed to observe Clijsters’ recommendation within the fourth spherical at Wimbledon after overcoming Christopher O’Connell in spherical three on Saturday. He received in straight units however wanted tiebreaks to settle all three of them, with the outcome extending his successful streak to eight matches and giving him a brand new career-high singles rating of No 38.
His subsequent check at Wimbledon will likely be his greatest but, although, with Stefanos Tsitsipas set to face between Eubanks and a spot within the quarter-finals at SW19. The former managed to ebook his place in spherical 4 by defeating Andy Murray in 4 units earlier this week after the match was halted on the primary day of play because of Wimbledon’s late-night curfew.