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Christopher Eubanks of the United States beat fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in a fourth-round match at Wimbledon on Monday, July 10. Now, Tsitsipas' struggles on grass are nothing new and he probably rates Wimbledon as his least-preferred slam.
Eubanks' victory against him should be good news for American tennis. The 27-year-old won the Mallorca Open in June and has broken into the top 40 in the world. At this moment, he is probably among the top 15 players on grass.
Christopher Eubanks will face Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the quarterfinal on Wednesday, June 12. Should he be able to pull off another upset, he will be the first American to reach the last four at Wimbledon since Andy Roddick in 2009.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that make Eubanks a quality player on this surface.
#1 Christopher Eubanks is a clean hitter who is not afraid to go down the line
Christopher Eubanks is a sweet striker of the ball. In an era dominated by players with two-handed backhands, Eubanks can hit a missile-like single-hander that does not give his opponent much time to react. He also has the courage to pull the trigger first by going down the line with his backhand to the open court.
He has won a lot of points in this year's Wimbledon that way. His backhand took Tsitsipas by surprise, as the latter was restricted to being a mere onlooker. Eubanks has a decent forehand too and that makes him pretty well-rounded as a player.
#2 Christopher Eubanks rushes the net pretty often
Like a true grasscourt player, the American relies on his volleys a great deal to win points. He usually keeps hitting approaches before going to the net to finish points. In the match against Tsitsipas, he even hit crosscourt backhand slices before venturing forward to the net to hit volley winners.
Eubanks also hits his backhand slice really well - another hallmark of a good grass-court player. Despite being very tall (2.01 meters), he has a slender build and hence, can move really quickly on the court. That usually helps him in his forward-rushing. His height also helps him serve well and enables him to have a bigger reach at the net.
Christopher Eubanks has made rapid strides in the recent past, but a place in the Wimbledon semifinal will firmly put him among the top players in the world on grass. It remains to be seen whether he is able to meet the expectations against Medvedev.
