Wimbledon on Friday saw a major upset. Unseeded American Christopher Eubanks stunned the crowd by pulling off a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 win against local favourite and 12th seed Cameron Norrie. It is Eubanks’ biggest win in a Grand Slam. The victory has come on a surface that he hated the most just a month ago. However the American’s performance on grass is continuing to scale new heights thanks to the advice he received from former Grand Slam winner Kim Clijsters just ahead of Wimbledon.
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The valuable advice from Kim Clijsters
In his preparation for Wimbledon this year, Eubanks suffered a second round exit at the Surbiton Trophy. A frustrated Eubanks reached out to Clijsters on WhatsApp. He expressed his disdain for grass in a text message. Calling grass the ‘most stupidest surface’, he expressed his frustration about the inconsistent bounces that troubled his movement.
Clijsters empathised with Eubanks and offered him solution by stating, “Try to do some little footwork drills everyday in practice. Even some mini-Tennis games. Only use open racket and play in two service boxes. Stay low, use your slice on forehand and backhand side. Just for footwork.”
The advice turned out to make all the difference as Eubanks soon won the Mallorca Open title just a week before Wimbledon. It was his career’s first ATP Title on grass. Soon after winning that title, he even thanked Clijsters and shared the screenshot of the chat on Twitter.
Carrying forward that valuable advice, Eubanks has now defeated the 12th seed Cameron Norrie to make it to the third round. He has now started loving grass and calls him a completely different person from a month ago. “That’s a very different person now, I can tell you that much,” Eubanks said after his win on Friday. “I’m loving the grass right now. That person who texted Kim was not too high on it. Very different.”
He further added that Clijsters might even get some commission for her tips.”Hey, if she asks, she’s going to get it. She’s a big, big contributing factor to I think some of the success, just keeping my mind fresh and keeping me up in spirits when I wasn’t.”
Clijsters is a four-time Grand Slam champion but has never won the Wimbledon. Her best performance in the grass court major was making it to the semi-final in 2003 and 2006. Eubanks, who is currently ranked World No.43 will next face Christopher O’Connell in the third round at the Wimbledon.
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