Before this year’s Wimbledon, Chris Eubanks had never got further than the second round at a Grand Slam and even contemplated a career in broadcasting. Now he's become the first African American man to reach the last eight at SW19 in 27 years.
5 minBy Sebastian Mikkelsen
Tennis
Late bloomer Chris Eubanks shocked the tennis world when he knocked out fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five-set thriller on Monday (10 July), reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon 2023.
It's been a breakthrough for the American, who has been struggling for years to break into the top 100 in the world rankings.
Last year, while still pursuing his professional tennis career, Eubanks started working as a commentator for the Tennis Channel to support himself. The new gig transformed his own game, and he even reached the top 50 before Wimbledon.
Eubanks started the grass court season with three early exits at low-ranking events. His frustration with the surface led him to send a WhatsApp message to Kim Clijsters, saying that “it is the stupidest surface to play on”. The six-time Grand Slam winner replied by advising him to improve his footwork. On 1 July, the former Georgia Tech standout claimed his first ATP title by winning the ATP tournament in Mallorca - on a grass surface.
Since then, he has continued his success on grass at Wimbledon, and he is starting to change his view. “The grass has been fine and I think it's slowly, slowly growing on me,” Eubanks said after defeating Tsitsipas according to DailyMail.com.
"My life goal wasn't really to play pro tennis or nothing else. I always said that I wanted to be a professional tennis player, but I don't really think I fully believed it until my junior year. It was like, let’s get a degree in the business school, and maybe I play pro tennis, maybe I coach, we'll see what happens."
At this year’s Wimbledon, Eubanks has so far defeated Thiago Monteiro, Cameron Norrie, Christopher O'Connell and Stefanos Tsitsipas on his way to the quarterfinals, where he will face former world number one Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday 11 July.
In doing so he became the first African American man to reach the last eight at SW19 since MaliVai Washington in 1996.
How Ons Jabeur's tennis journey inspires Morocco's teen Aya El Aouni
Where is Chris Eubanks from?
Chris Eubanks hails from Atlanta, Georgia. He was raised as the son of a Baptist minister and holds deep religious beliefs.
“The funny thing about being a preacher's kid is when you're playing tournaments on Saturdays and Sundays, you miss a lot of Sunday services,” he told DailyMail.com.
“I think it's more so just about instilling faith at a young age is pretty important, especially to my parents, and I think faith can mean different things to different people. For me, one of the main things of having faith is just simply taking it into every walk of life, which could be also my tennis. It's just trusting that if I keep doing what I'm supposed to do, it's going to work out.”
Eubanks’ father was also his first tennis coach. After watching his older sibling play tennis, he developed an interest and wanted to give it a try as well.
“When I got to the age where I could run and swing a racket, my dad put one in my hand. It just kind of went from there doing the normal route of playing local tournaments and junior tournaments and just trying to work my way up,” Eubanks said.
While in college, the American played three seasons at Georgia Tech before starting his professional career in 2015.
The advice from Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka
Growing up in Atlanta, Chris Eubanks was fortunate to have many tennis players from the same city who could offer him tips and support through trials and tribulations.
One player whom the 27-year-old has mentioned several times as an inspiration is Jarmere Jenkins, Serena Williams’ long-time hitting partner. He has looked up to Jenkins since he was eight years old, according to tennismajors.com.
USTA national coach Donald Young 'has been like a brother’ to Eubanks since he was 15 years old. The American also draws inspiration from Frances Tiafoe, James Blake, Ben Shelton and Serena Williams.
After his shock win against Tsitsitpas, Eubanks shares the advice that compatriots Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka have given him over the years: "They've been saying for a long time that they feel like I belong at his level," he said in the post-match press-conference.
"For a long time I questioned whether or not I was consistent enough to play at this level really consistently. I knew I could come out on any match and maybe light it up, could cause some guys some trouble, I don't know if I really believed I could put it together match after match after match against quality opponents.
"That's something Coco has been telling me for a long time. Naomi even says the same thing. That's kind of been the main thing of just reinforcing and instilling confidence, ‘Hey, you can play at this level, you just have to believe it!’ When I'm around them, to hear them talk about their belief, it's a bit infectious. It does rub off on you."
Chris Eubanks' Wimbledon stats
Chris Eubanks stands at an impressive height of 2 metres and 1 centimeter (6'7"). At Wimbledon 2023, he has demonstrated that his serve is a formidable weapon, having hit 85 aces, which is more than any other player.
Furthermore, according to bbc.com, he has won 89 percent of his service games.
An impressive 26 percent of Eubanks' shots have resulted in beating his opponents, making him the player with the highest percentage in the men's draw.
