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Chris Eubanks, who I have been watching for a while, since his days a Georgia Tech, in his 1st ATP Final vs an always tough Mannarino. Chris off to a fine start, up 3-0 in 1st set.
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Overwhelming 1st set by Chris. He certainly has a top tier serve, as we all know, but his forehand is producing less errors it seems, and it is huge. Very interesting. -
Well, that was super impressive by Chris. The poster child of what is so appealing about the ATP tour, such an enduring young man. He is the very definition of a dangerous Wimbledon floater.Comment
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Eubanks wins first title 1, 4 for his first ATP title !Comment
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The Braintrust of the forum likes to keep things simple these days and keeping it simple...they like each other's simple posts. But the reality is...things are not so simple. Christopher Eubanks had himself a bit of a watershed moment this week in Mallorca, Spain where he won his maiden ATP tournament. On grass no less with Wimbledon just over the horizon. As we all know...every draw sheet tells a story. Well, at least I know it. Rod Stewart knows it as well. "Paris was a place where you could hide away...if you felt you didn't fit in".
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=every+picture+tells+a+story#fpstate=ive&vld= ci d:bf868f69,vid:hqi_m-pMuoI
But at any rate...it was an interesting story. In the first round Eubanks took down an up and comer in Alex Michelson. Alex is eighteen years old and ranked 250 in the world tennis rankings and lost to Eubanks 6-3, 6-7, 7-5. Tough loss for the kid who will be attending University of Georgia...an institution where I lost to the number one player 6-4, 6-4 while managing a torn muscle in my rib cage area. Not to mention dealing with some very obnoxious "fans" of Chris Delaney. Michelson is projected by some to be a top collegiate player in the near future. In the second round Christopher Eubanks, ranked #77, beat Ben Shelton who is currently ranked 33 by the score of 6-7, 6-4, 7-6. Another come from behind grinder...which is a great sign of his competitive nature. Next...Eubanks took down Arthur Rinderknech in duplicate tie-breakers 7-6, 7-6. In the semi finals Eubanks prevailed after once again dropping the first set only this time he saved eight match points in the process in taking out Lloyd Harris 4-6, 6-3, 7-6. Quite a journey.
The "Big Three" managed to cover the final in the minimalist manner that is now the dictate of the forum so there is no need to comment or extrapolate on that. But there are just a couple of interesting side bars that might be of interest to anyone that knows anything about tennis or whatever it is they are calling this nowadays. It was interesting to watch the one hand backhand of Eubanks and how he used it. Obviously his forehand and serve make a lot more noise and draw more attention to the simpler minded...but it was his backhand that got my attention. He used his slice backhand in a very clever and tactical manner. He used it to neutralize and he did it by hitting percentage shots and being patient. He was patient enough to wait to get the ball on his forehand and he was somewhat aggressive in making his way to the net.
Going forwards it will be interesting to see how he reacts to this tournament win. It's a big splash on social media...that's for sure. The kind of thing that makes a young guy think about himself and this leads to the "Great Expectations". What will be his level of performance be at the next stop? The Grand Daddy of them all. The reality is the highest ranking player he defeated was Ben Shelton and next was Adriano Mannerino. That is the low side of the expectations. But on the other hand...he demonstrated a lot of resolve in winning close tight matches and coming back for a set down a couple of times. Three out of five is another ask altogether. So we'll see.
I can't wait to see how the Big Three take on Wimbledon after assessing the performance of The French Open...statistically speaking. I anticipate some imaginary posters and guests as well. Have fun! I'll be out golfing. Wait...am I allowed to say that?
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I also noticed his slice backhand looked better than I had ever seen it in this tournament. I remember saying a while ago in some thread that his slice backhand was not where it needed to be at his level, but that certainly was not the case in Mallorca. Additionally, when he came over the ball on that side, he seemed to be making less errors. He is never going to be Gasquet or Stan off that side, but he certainly looked good enough off that side in Mallorca. He even volleyed better than I have seen him.Comment
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Reminds me a bit of the days when there were actual grass-court specialists that made early rounds interesting - like Borg coming off clay to face, Vijay Armitraj on grass, or Vitas Gueralitis.Originally posted by stroke View PostComment
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Yes, clay season used to be like that also, but not anymore.Comment
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FYI - An article on how Eubanks was helped by grass court advice from Kim Cjlisters!Originally posted by stroke View Post
Excerpts:
"A secret weapon helped American Chris Eubanks win his first career ATP singles title and close out his pre-Wimbledon preparations on a high note: advice from Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters. After a 6-1, 6-4 triumph against Adrian Mannarino in Saturday's final of the Mallorca Championships, Eubanks shared not only that the two spoke, but exactly what they talked about.
"How it started vs. How it’s going," Eubanks wrote on Twitter to accompany of screenshot of their messages. "Major THANK YOU to @Clijsterskim for keeping my spirits up at the start of this grass court season."
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A secret weapon helped American Chris Eubanks win his first career ATP singles title and close out his pre-Wimbledon preparations on a high note: advice from Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters. After a 6-1, 6-4 triumph against Adrian Mannarino in Saturday's final of the Mallorca Championships, Eubanks shared not only that the two spoke, but exactly what they talked about.
"How it started vs. How it’s going," Eubanks wrote on Twitter to accompany of screenshot of their messages. "Major THANK YOU to @Clijsterskim for keeping my spirits up at the start of this grass court season."
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"Try to do some little footwork drills every day in practice, even some mini-tennis games," she wrote. "Only use open racket and play in two service boxes. Stay low, use your slice on FH [forehand] and BH [backhand] side. Just for footwork."
As it turned out, Eubanks had plenty of opportunities to test out Clijsters' advice over the course of his title-winning run. Unseeded, he beat No. 3 seed Ben Shelton in the second round, one of three three-setters he played before beating No. 4 seed Mannarino in the final. He came from a set down against Shelton, and also against South Africa's Lloyd Harris in the semifinals—a match in which he saved five match points before winning.
Now 12-3 on grass this year, Eubanks will look to keep his good form going in his Wimbledon main-draw debut on Tuesday. He'll face Brazil's Thiago Monteiro in the first round, with a match against No. 12 seed Cameron Norrie possibly looming in the second round.
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