“If you haven’t been winning, it feels as though a lot of things constantly go against you,” says Christopher Eubanks. But the American player has erased every doubt in our heads with a hard-fought victory against Ethan Quinn at the Hall of Fame Open. It was a “good quality win,” as he himself later stated. And behind his every winning stroke lies the hard work of his silent yet massive supporter, his father, Mark Eubanks!

Christopher Eubanks’ journey in tennis began at the tender age of two. When most children play with a toy in hand, Eubanks held a racquet, with his father, Mark, standing behind him as his trainer. At the time, his role was limited to watching his elder brother, Mark Jr., hone his tennis skills. However, soon, Mark Sr. realized that Christopher might have a knack for tennis too. “I noticed he had good eye-hand coordination and then we just built from there.”

While his brother parted ways with tennis even after getting a college scholarship, Eubanks’ father focused on his younger son, citing Christopher’s “passion” for the sport as the driving force behind his success. Thus began his training sessions with Christopher, which went on till he was 13 years old.

“I would always play him up. He was like 10 years old, playing 14s. And so I didn’t care if he would win a match or not because he’s not supposed to win. But he won quite a few matches playing up. And so when he saw that ball coming, he had to react to it faster at an early age. And that’s how he developed his game, really,” Mark Sr. told People.

Besides, he also helped his son keep a balanced approach to his academic as well as athletic life. Moreover, born in Atlanta, Georgia, Christopher Eubanks also developed a close friendship with Donald Young, a top 100 ATP player of the time, who often practiced with him. “When I got around Donald and got to get better and better, that’s when I got back to, ‘Maybe I could do this one day’.” Soon enough, he turned pro in 2017, at the age of 21 after playing for his college Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

More success followed as he entered the top 29 ATP rankings for the first time last year. A two-time All-American ACC player of the year, Christopher Eubanks played in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open last year! Not only that, he even reached his first major quarterfinal at Wimbledon as well. 

Sadly, he has not had the same results this year with a first-round exit from the All England Tennis Club a few weeks ago. But his recent performance at the Hall of Fame Open was a redemption for the American player. Clearly, he has come a long way in his journey and his recent victory proves that we don’t need to wait any longer to see him conquer his dreams in tennis once again. Christopher Eubanks himself has revealed the same joy after his match too.

Christopher Eubanks talks about the “ebbs and flows” of winning and losing in tennis

“It’s been a while. For sure, it’s been a while since I had that feeling of putting together a good quality win and definitely it’s been even longer since being in a quarter-final,” Christopher Eubanks said after defeating Quinn by 6-7, 6-3, 3-6. He will now be facing Aleksandar Vukic in his quarterfinal match. Although the taste of victory is in itself sweet, it is even sweeter when one achieves it after a lot of patience and hard work.

“It’s pretty difficult, that’s for sure. It’s definitely not easy to try to look at the positive side when things aren’t going your way. But I think [it is about] understanding that this is just part of the Tour, it’s not something that’s super specific to me. There are tonnes of players who maybe, throughout the course of their career, have different ebbs and flows, of winning and losing.”

But, Christopher Eubanks knows that if he continues to fight eventually “the hard work will pay off and good things will happen.” With that thought and the guidance of his father in his mind, he is determined to soar to new heights in tennis!