With ranking points to defend, offense-first Chris Eubanks has “two really, really big weeks” ahead

For someone bereft of wins and on the road for two months, Christopher Eubanks seemed in good spirits.

That can’t be too much of a surprise, since the articulate Atlanta native hardly lacks in perspective. Furthermore, he bid au revoir to clay and said hello to grass, where his career fortunes changed in 2023 thanks to a nine-match winning streak in Mallorca and at Wimbledon.

Don’t get him wrong: Eubanks, who turned 28 last month, doesn’t disdain clay, the preferred surface of a legendary tennis figure hailing from Mallorca. He just hasn’t played much on it. This year marked his first full clay swing, including trips to Masters stops in Madrid and Rome—all possible thanks to ranking points he earned last year on grass.

His game, though, anchored by an overpowering serve, better suits slick turf.

Even if I’m moving well, hitting my forehand well, hitting my backhand well, none of that really matters much if I’m not serving well. Chris Eubanks

Eubanks intended to start his grass swing at the Surbiton Challenger, about six miles from the All England Club, during the second week of Roland Garros, but missed out after incessant rain in Paris caused a scheduling backlog. Eubanks and doubles partner Evan King only played their second-round match on the second Sunday, eight days into the tournament proper. They lost despite leading by a set and 4-1.

Eubanks still flew to London and practiced on grass for several days before another journey to Stuttgart.

“There are certainly times during the clay-court season, which wasn’t as good as I would have liked, when it does start to feel a bit long,” Eubanks, ousted by Jannik Sinner on the terre battue, told TENNIS.com. “But post Roland Garros, since having a few days on the grass, I’m feeling kind of almost like an energy jolt.

“I’m enjoying my time on the practice courts a little bit more, enjoying my time in the gym. Right now I feel like I’m in a good space and I think I will be able to carry that on over the next five or six weeks.”

Eubanks spoke on the eve of his contest against San Diego’s Brandon Nakashima, which eventually ended in a 7-6 (4) 6-4 defeat to extend his losing streak to eight matches.

He tallied double digits in aces (11) for the 11th consecutive match, but didn’t manufacture a single break point. Eubanks doesn’t require many breaks to succeed given his serve, especially on grass. But this the fourth time in 2024 he hasn’t conjured a break opportunity—the other three occasions coming in succession in Dallas, Acapulco and Indian Wells (also against Nakashima).

It only happened once in 41 main-draw, tour-level matches last year: against fellow big server, Hubert Hurkacz, in Halle. (That, too, happened to be the last time he failed to register double digits in aces on grass.)

Now ranked 44^th, well inside the Top 100—a benchmark that weighed heavily on him, and brought tears when he finally broke through last year in Miami—Eubanks spends more time away from home compared to when he mostly contested Challengers. He now also meets higher-ranked players. He hardly feels out of place.

But opponents now have more to work with when trying to dissect Eubanks’ game.

“Now, we’re going to nice places that have nicer facilities and nicer hotels, and those things are actually really, really nice and really good,” says Eubanks. “It’s been an easier adjustment on that side of it, but it hasn’t really been too much different. The one thing that’s changed is that I’ve taken a bit of a deeper look at my own game now, because I played more matches now. So scouting reports, patterns and tendencies are getting out there.

“I’d say that’s been one of the bigger adjustments. You have to kind of look at yourself and re-evaluate your own game while still not changing who you are, if that makes sense.”

Eubanks is no doubt aware of his return numbers—eight percent of return games won in 2024 compared to 12 percent last season marks a significant difference, for example. But plenty of his focus revolves around the serve.

“Even if I’m moving well, hitting my forehand well, hitting my backhand well, none of that really matters much if I’m not serving well,” said the Georgia Tech alum. “My serve placement, my variation of speed, just how I get holds, has probably been the biggest thing from looking at myself. Things kind of begin and end with my serve. It’s just kind of accepting that.”

In Mallorca last year, Eubanks was broken just three times in five matches on the way to a maiden ATP title. He collected his first win against good buddy Ben Shelton in a third-set tiebreak in round two, and saved five match points against Lloyd Harris in the semifinals.

Having to restart physically and mentally a few days later at Wimbledon didn’t quell Eubanks’ momentum. As part of his quarterfinal showing in front of crowds that took to his game and enchanting smile, Eubanks bagged his first Top 10 win, over Stefanos Tsitsipas, and came within four points of upsetting Daniil Medvedev. A career-best No. 29 ranking soon followed.

They provide fond memories of a lifetime for Eubanks, but in the nearer term, a bunch of ranking points to defend.

You have to kind of look at yourself and re-evaluate your own game while still not changing who you are, if that makes sense. Chris Eubanks

Eubanks has the opportunity to end his losing streak before Mallorca, as he faces Pedro Martinez —a dogged Spaniard whose ranking has climbed roughly 90 spots since the end of October—in Halle.

“I know Wimby and Mallorca are two really, really big weeks for me, but at the end of the day I trust that I’m a far better tennis player at this point this year (than last year),” says Eubanks, who believes he can return to the Top 30 and possibly beyond. “I feel like I’ve experienced more. I’ve played more difficult guys, I have a better understanding of tour level.

“If there’s anything I learned from last year, it is that if you focus on the process, the results are going to come whenever they are going to come.”