Christopher Eubanks enjoyed the biggest moment of his career last year at Wimbledon, where he earned a series of impressive wins to reach his first major quarter-final.
The American, who upset Stefanos Tsitsipas en route, reflects on one of the greatest moments of his career, remembers his early Wimbledon memories watching Andy Roddick and his love for the traditions at the grass-court major.
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What is your first memory of watching Wimbledon?
My first memory was probably 'Breakfast at Wimbledon'. Wimbledon is a pretty good Slam for waking up as a kid on the East Coast at six or seven a.m. and kind of getting to see the opening with ESPN and seeing the final on NBC as a kid. Those are my first memories and then with matches, that legendary final between Federer and Nadal in 08. I also remember two of Roddick's finals. I remember watching it as an American thinking, ‘Oh man, an American could win Wimbledon. He played Federer in the finals and wasn't able to, but still incredible matches.
So those finals and Rafa against Roger were probably two of the memories that stick out. But overall just kind of the joy of the summer waking up early and the excitement of seeing those first matches on and watching them bounce around from court to court is a memory I'll always remember.
What were your thoughts about the aura of the venue when you first arrived?
I had played qualifying about three or four times and I had heard a few players say once you make main draw, it feels a little bit different when you get on site, so I didn't really know what to expect. And then getting here last year and to experience it all for the first time as a player was truly remarkable. To just see how well manicured everything is. There's not a piece of grass out of place, everybody is so orderly, they're so respectful, so nice, things just kind of move like clockwork here. It was definitely a kind of surreal moment to say, ‘Oh wow, I'm here from a player standpoint’. It was truly special.
Can you reflect a little bit more on your QF journey last year and beating Stefanos Tsitsipas?
The Tsitsipas match is always one that I'll say is the first time I think where I really kind of noticed things were a lot different. On the way to the match we walked from the main player area through the grounds, round the back of court three and onto court two. It was fine. Security was there. Some fans kind of waiting and saying, ‘Hey’, but all OK. And then when I came out of the door after the match, I think it was the first time that I noticed things were different.
The moment the doors opened, there were more people outside waiting. More people than I had ever seen asking for autographs, for photos. The security kind of grabbed me a little bit by my arms and we kind of just ran through to get all the way back to the players area. And I think just kind of seeing those doors open and seeing how different it was is when I had the 'Aha moment' of, ‘Whoa, things are a little different. This is pretty crazy’. Also the way the match went, just kind of up and down, topsy turvy. I lost the first one, won the second, lost the third. And then I won two straight and played some really, really good tennis to do it.
The crowd really got behind me. We produced some really fun tennis. I was pretty excited, obviously, as how things progressed. That match in particular is definitely the biggest of that run. It was really special.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
What are your thoughts about the different Wimbledon traditions?
I think the traditions are what make Wimbledon so special. It's why a lot of people look at it as the biggest tournament in the world. I'm not typically a fan of all white in any other part of the year because I just feel like it's very easy to get it dirty.
As a kid playing junior tournaments I never really wore all white because I knew if I ate lunch, I would get a spill on it and it was too easy to see. But there's something special about putting on all white here that I think makes it really cool. I love the tradition here. It is why I think a lot of players hold it in such a high regard.
What is your favourite thing about playing on grass?
I think serve and forehand have always kind of been good recipes for people to have success on grass. I think as a one-handed backhand, utilising the slice is really, really important for me to keep the ball low, force the opponents to have to hit up and then it's just a little bit tougher to move on it. I think that's the thing on the clay court or hard court, players are more comfortable defending out of the corners than on the grass, with the exception of a handful of guys. It takes a little bit of an adjustment to be able to get out of the corner and stop and then recover back to the middle. I think it's just the movement aspect that allows for aggressive style players to really get the reward more so than on other surfaces.
How are you feeling ahead of your first match against Frenchman Quentin Halys?
It's funny since being back here, I've had probably three or four of the best training days that I've had in probably the past few months, like consistently. I like where my game is going into my first round. I think that I'm playing some of the most consistent and solid tennis, at least in preparing for this week. The only thing I can focus on is how I prepare. I'll focus on how I prepare and then we allow the rest to take care of itself on Tuesday.
I feel really, really good with my preparation. I feel, although coming in last year from Mallorca winning five matches and winning a title there, the confidence was high. But I still try to reflect back on how I play now versus how I played then and I still think I'm a little bit of a better player now. I think I'm more thoughtful. I kind of know a bit more about tennis. I think last year when confidence is high and you have a big game, you can just kind of catch heat. Things were just going well for me. But I think now I'm a bit more calculated. I think I'm a bit more aware of what's going on.
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The American, who upset Stefanos Tsitsipas en route, reflects on one of the greatest moments of his career, remembers his early Wimbledon memories watching Andy Roddick and his love for the traditions at the grass-court major.
[ATP APP]
What is your first memory of watching Wimbledon?
My first memory was probably 'Breakfast at Wimbledon'. Wimbledon is a pretty good Slam for waking up as a kid on the East Coast at six or seven a.m. and kind of getting to see the opening with ESPN and seeing the final on NBC as a kid. Those are my first memories and then with matches, that legendary final between Federer and Nadal in 08. I also remember two of Roddick's finals. I remember watching it as an American thinking, ‘Oh man, an American could win Wimbledon. He played Federer in the finals and wasn't able to, but still incredible matches.
So those finals and Rafa against Roger were probably two of the memories that stick out. But overall just kind of the joy of the summer waking up early and the excitement of seeing those first matches on and watching them bounce around from court to court is a memory I'll always remember.
What were your thoughts about the aura of the venue when you first arrived?
I had played qualifying about three or four times and I had heard a few players say once you make main draw, it feels a little bit different when you get on site, so I didn't really know what to expect. And then getting here last year and to experience it all for the first time as a player was truly remarkable. To just see how well manicured everything is. There's not a piece of grass out of place, everybody is so orderly, they're so respectful, so nice, things just kind of move like clockwork here. It was definitely a kind of surreal moment to say, ‘Oh wow, I'm here from a player standpoint’. It was truly special.
Can you reflect a little bit more on your QF journey last year and beating Stefanos Tsitsipas?
The Tsitsipas match is always one that I'll say is the first time I think where I really kind of noticed things were a lot different. On the way to the match we walked from the main player area through the grounds, round the back of court three and onto court two. It was fine. Security was there. Some fans kind of waiting and saying, ‘Hey’, but all OK. And then when I came out of the door after the match, I think it was the first time that I noticed things were different.
The moment the doors opened, there were more people outside waiting. More people than I had ever seen asking for autographs, for photos. The security kind of grabbed me a little bit by my arms and we kind of just ran through to get all the way back to the players area. And I think just kind of seeing those doors open and seeing how different it was is when I had the 'Aha moment' of, ‘Whoa, things are a little different. This is pretty crazy’. Also the way the match went, just kind of up and down, topsy turvy. I lost the first one, won the second, lost the third. And then I won two straight and played some really, really good tennis to do it.
The crowd really got behind me. We produced some really fun tennis. I was pretty excited, obviously, as how things progressed. That match in particular is definitely the biggest of that run. It was really special.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
What are your thoughts about the different Wimbledon traditions?
I think the traditions are what make Wimbledon so special. It's why a lot of people look at it as the biggest tournament in the world. I'm not typically a fan of all white in any other part of the year because I just feel like it's very easy to get it dirty.
As a kid playing junior tournaments I never really wore all white because I knew if I ate lunch, I would get a spill on it and it was too easy to see. But there's something special about putting on all white here that I think makes it really cool. I love the tradition here. It is why I think a lot of players hold it in such a high regard.
What is your favourite thing about playing on grass?
I think serve and forehand have always kind of been good recipes for people to have success on grass. I think as a one-handed backhand, utilising the slice is really, really important for me to keep the ball low, force the opponents to have to hit up and then it's just a little bit tougher to move on it. I think that's the thing on the clay court or hard court, players are more comfortable defending out of the corners than on the grass, with the exception of a handful of guys. It takes a little bit of an adjustment to be able to get out of the corner and stop and then recover back to the middle. I think it's just the movement aspect that allows for aggressive style players to really get the reward more so than on other surfaces.
How are you feeling ahead of your first match against Frenchman Quentin Halys?
It's funny since being back here, I've had probably three or four of the best training days that I've had in probably the past few months, like consistently. I like where my game is going into my first round. I think that I'm playing some of the most consistent and solid tennis, at least in preparing for this week. The only thing I can focus on is how I prepare. I'll focus on how I prepare and then we allow the rest to take care of itself on Tuesday.
I feel really, really good with my preparation. I feel, although coming in last year from Mallorca winning five matches and winning a title there, the confidence was high. But I still try to reflect back on how I play now versus how I played then and I still think I'm a little bit of a better player now. I think I'm more thoughtful. I kind of know a bit more about tennis. I think last year when confidence is high and you have a big game, you can just kind of catch heat. Things were just going well for me. But I think now I'm a bit more calculated. I think I'm a bit more aware of what's going on.
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