Chris Eubanks stays hot after ‘glitz and glam of Wimbledon’
Chris Eubanks admits his run at Wimbledon “elevated” him to the next level, but Mallorca will always be special as that is where it all started.
Just over three months ago Eubanks was still ranked outside the top 100 before a run to the quarter-final of the Miami Open saw him climb to No 85 in the ATP Rankings, but it wasn’t until June that his career really took off.
He made a disappointing start to the grass-court season, losing in the first round in both Stuttgart and Halle and then it all clicked at the Mallorca Championships.
And he was the first to admit that he didn’t think he would get much joy on the surface after he famously messaged former world No 1 Kim Clijsters to express just how uncomfortable he is on grass.
Four-time Grand Slam winner Clijsters gave him some tips and he went all the way in Mallorca, winning his maiden ATP Tour title and surging into the top 50.
He carried that form over to Wimbledon where he went on a dizzy run as he stunned British hope Cameron Norrie, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas before falling to world No 3 Daniil Medvedev in five sets in the quarter-final.
“It’s hard to say if the run has been life-changing, but I definitely think it’s been career-changing,” the world No 32 told ATP Tour.
“Wimbledon definitely elevated me but Mallorca did a good job of doing that as well. So I think it’s a combination of the two. I think Mallorca kind of gets overlooked a little bit, obviously, because of the glitz and glam of Wimbledon. But I think Mallorca started me off on a good foot, and Wimbledon just allowed me to just carry on that momentum.”
He took a short break following his Wimbledon heroics, but Eubanks was back in action in his hometown on Tuesday as he took on Andres Martin in the first round of the Atlanta Open.
It was a successful return as he won 6-2, 6-4, but it was good to be back home.
“I left I think probably back in April and I was on the road for 12 straight weeks, played 11 of 12 weeks and had some ups and downs, but the ups kind of came towards the end and things were going really well,” Eubanks said.
“I’m hoping to continue that trajectory and see where the summer takes me. This entire year really has been a dream come true, so I’m hoping to keep it going.”