The waves of excitement continue as the second day of the 2024 Wimbledon has begun. Among the ones scheduled to play their opening round matches today, American ATP star Christopher Eubanks is the highlight. Being marked as a favorite as he made it to the QF last year, fans are all set to root for him. For the ones intrigued to know more about his Wimbledon story, here’s a tale from when it was just a dream.

Christopher Eubanks recently shared his first Wimbledon memories in an interview with the ATP Tour. On being exposed to a question regarding the thought, he shared, “My first memory was probably ‘Breakfast at Wimbledon.’

Delving into details about how Wimbledon is a child’s dream, he said, “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.”

Christopher Eubanks has a close connection with the grass-court major. Looking back to his performance last year, the ATP star enjoyed his biggest career moment in the tournament. He reached his first major quarterfinal after a remarkable 3-6, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas. This win also solidified his position by marking the ninth consecutive tour-level victory on grass.

Talking about the magical experience, he said, “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’.”

Eubanks is set to compete in the 2024 Wimbledon Championship, where he will face Quentin Halys in the first round on Court 5. The American aims to get his season back on track after a challenging phase. However, he still has high hopes as he recently made it to the quarterfinals at Halle. Besides being good on the green surface, he also has a close connection with it.

Christopher Eubanks regards grass courts as his “best friend”

Christopher Eubanks watched the big four on the grass during his early days. This interest yielded results as the American developed a liking for the surface, which also reflected in his thoughts. Back in 2023, the 28-year-old had to end one of his runs for an ATP Challenger title in Surbiton. Frustrated because of the defeat, he texted none other than Kim Clijsters to disregard the surface. “Grass is the stupidest surface to play tennis on,” he said.

Clijsters managed to stay calm and offered him some technical advice. Eubanks applied it to his game and experienced a sudden boom in performance as he managed to win the title in Mallorca. On being confronted about his “stupid surface” comment, he said, “Those words will never come out of my mouth for the rest of my career. Grass and I had a strained relationship over the years. Right now I think it’s my best friend.”

Christopher Eubanks has multiple stories linked to his grass court experience. As he looks forward to begin his run once again, only time will tell how far his “best friend” lets him go.