Wimbledon ace Chris Eubanks mentioned grass was ‘stupidest floor’ earlier than heroic run
Chris Eubanks will take to Court No. 1 at Wimbledon immediately trying to attain the semi-finals on the primary try. But the likeable American’s surprising run is all of the extra outstanding provided that up till a number of weeks in the past he hated taking part in on grass.
The 6ft 7″ outsider will face quantity three seed Daniil Medvedev for a spot within the closing 4 and though the previous US Open champion will be considered the hot favourite, in-form Eubanks has finally found his feet in the world of lawn tennis.
Having spent much of his formative career struggling to break into the top 100, he is currently ranked 43rd and will be jumping even higher up the list once the Wimbledon championships are concluded.
Eubanks started the grass court season in an uninspiring fashion, suffering a second-round loss at the Surbiton Challenger before losing the first round at both Stuttgart and Halle.
Down on his luck, he messaged friend Kim Clijsters and complained that grass was “the stupidest surface to play on”. The former world No. 1 returned some advice that appears to have stuck with him.
“Try to do some little footwork drills. Even play some mini-tennis games… stay low, use your slice,” she said in response.
Eubanks took on the pointers and used them to devastating effect. Just the week before Wimbledon, he won his first-ever ATP title in Mallorca – on grass.
Eubanks told the official Wimbledon website: “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.”
Having despised the surface only weeks ago, the 27-year-old heads into his quarter-final clash with Medvedev on the back of nine straight wins. His huge serve and brutal forehand could cause the Russian problems, who is no fan of grass himself, having previously never gone further than the fourth round at SW19.
But perhaps an even bigger factor in Eubanks’ favour is his blossoming relationship with the Wimbledon crow. In tight contests against Christopher O’Connell and Stefanos Tsitsipas, he was capable of win the affections of spectators along with his carefree model and infectious smile.
Eubanks can have realised the additional energy at his disposal within the gripping last-16 match and can absolutely now look to duplicate that power on the grander stage of court docket No. 1 immediately.
With nothing to lose and all of the strain on his opponent, the American can have a license to play as he pleases and if all the important thing components mix, his fantastic Wimbledon journey is probably not coming to an finish simply but.