How it started vs. How it’s going Major THANK YOU to @Clijsterskim for keeping my spirits up at the start of this grass court season. I really appreciate you 🥹🙌🏾🏆
Kim: "grass is the stupidest surface to play tennis on..": Eubanks asked Clijsters for advice prior to Mallorca title
Tennis NewsSunday, 02 July 2023 at 14:30
Christopher Eubanks asked Kim Clijsters for advice prior to winning the Mallorca Championships, calling grass the 'stupidest surface to play on'.
Christopher Eubanks hit a career-high on 1st July as he gained his first-ever ATP Tour title. The 27-year-old American claimed victory in Saturday's final at the Mallorca Championships after defeating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in straight sets.
Earlier in the tournament, Eubanks beat third seed Ben Shelton before saving five match points in his semi-final against Lloyd Harris in order to get to the final and gain the trophy.
This not only means that Eubanks takes home prize money totaling €836,355, but he will also see his ATP world ranking increase from 77 to No. 43 going into Wimbledon. This puts him within the top 45 for the first time in his career. However, whilst this grass season appears to be unfurling like a fairytale, Eubanks revealed on Twitter yesterday that he didn't have such an easy start on the surface.
Eubanks posted a screenshot of text messages he had sent to former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters on June 8, in which he called grass 'the stupidest surface to play tennis on.' When Clijsters responded asking why, he elaborated by saying that he was 'frustrated with the inconsistent bounces when I'm trying to take the ball early' before adding that 'the grass is slow and takes away from the effectiveness of my serve'.
It quickly became apparent that he was not alone in his frustrations, as Clijsters, the 2003 Wimbledon doubles champion, was quick to sympathize, and the two went on to talk about the extra challenges that grass courts pose to movement. Most notably, Eubanks compared the surface to hard courts, which he appeared to be missing, saying 'I need 17 steps to change direction out of the corners [...] I'm so used to hard court where it's one step and go'.
However, tennis veteran Clijsters, who has six Grand Slam titles to her name across singles and doubles, including three consecutive wins in singles at the US Open, was able to offer Eubanks some useful advice going into the rest of the grass season.
The Belgian player suggested doing 'some little footwork drills every day in practice', before adding '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.'
Clijsters' advice certainly seems to have payed off for Eubanks, as the tweet about his Mallorca victory consists largely of thanking her 'for keeping my spirits up at the start of this grass court season' before sweetly adding, 'I really appreciate you'.
Eubanks will now play in the Wimbledon main draw for the first time. He will face Brazilian Thiago Monteiro on Tuesday 4th July, at 12:00 CET.
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