*The tennis world was shocked on Monday when Christopher Eubanks beat No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon.
“I feel like I’m living a dream right now,” said Eubanks in his post-match interview, New York Post reports. “This is absolutely insane.”
“It’s surreal. it’s unbelievable, I can’t believe it, he added, according to The Atlantic. Addressing the crowd, Euband continued: “You guys pushed me to do some incredible stuff.
“You came out in full force to support me and I can’t put into words what it means. This has been a dream come true,” he said.
Eubanks, 27, will face No. 3 Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals.
“Now I genuinely can say, probably for the first time, I’m showing up to tournaments with higher expectations and really wanting to do well and put my best foot forward,” Eubanks told reporters. “I’m no longer feeling OK just being there. I know that I belong.”
Meanwhile, here are five facts about the tennis superstar via The Daily Beast:
His dad is a Baptist minister
Christopher’s dad, Chris Eubanks, is a Baptist minister back home in Georgia. He’s also a former college tennis player, who coached Christopher until he was 13 years old.
He almost retired due to COVID-19
Eubanks was hitting his stride when the world was shut down by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He’s friends with Jamie Foxx
Eubanks posted a video with the actor back in 2020, in which Foxx tried to return one of his serves. Spoiler alert—he couldn’t, but the pair have become good friends ever since.
He’s tall—really tall
Eubanks is 6’7”. Tennis players aren’t exactly known for being short—Novak Djokovic is 6’2” and both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are 6’1”—but Eubanks still towers over most of his competition.
He hates grass
Last month, Eubanks had a disappointing exit at a lower-level ATP Challenger Tour competition in England. He lost in straight sets to a player outside the Top 100, winning just about $2,500 in prize money. After the loss, he reached out to four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters for advice. “I was just kind of frustrated,” he recalled. “I sent her a text, and I was like, ‘Grass is the stupidest surface to play tennis on. Why are we playing tennis—a sport in which we need the ball to bounce—on a very inconsistent surface?’ And you can’t move on it.”
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