Christopher Eubanks blames Roger Federer for his misery claiming opponents have found out his weak spot
Chris Eubanks ponders over his one-hand backhand and the amount of success he has been able to get from it.
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Chris Eubanks and Roger Federer
Chris Eubanks absolutely adores Roger Federer. He grew up watching him and tried to emulate him in every step even his one-hand backhand. The one-hand backhand is a signature style of the 20-time Grand Slam champion and nobody execute it more beautifully and with ease as him.
However, Chris Eubanks is trying to do exactly this. At a young age he switched from two-hand backhand to one-hand backhand. This is not common in American style of tennis. Most American players rely upon two-hand backhand. But the 26-year old chose to follow a different path, when talked about backhand style.
In a recent interview, when the American tennis professional was asked about how he got on the habit of playing one-hand backhand, he gave many reasons for it.
“No, I started off two hands on both sides up until the age of about nine or ten. Then I switched to a one-hand forehand. I think at about 14 I went to a one-hand backhand. If I could do it all over again, don’t know if I stick with that decision,” he revealed.
“There are pros and cons to each. Obviously the backhand, you have a lot of variety with the slice, can open up the court, a bit more angle. From time to time I was able to do that pretty well, but something about that ball above the shoulders, man, one-hander is a bit tough,” he continued.
He also mentioned the influence of Roger Federer upon him for making this decision. Although, he finds it hard to play one-hand backhand, he does not wish to revert back to two-hand backhands. He want to be successful with what he has and perfected over the years.
“It’s what I have now. Obviously I have had a decent amount of success with it. Gonna make it work. Going to try and make it as good of a one-handed backhand as I can. It’s a bit of a running joke now between me and some of my friends, my dad, when I switched to the one-handed backhand. I wanted to do it because I loved Federer. Now I go to my dad, Why did you let me do that? You had no idea guys would just go throw balls above my shoulder for my entire career. You know, it’s how it goes,” he said.
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Chris Eubanks performances this season
The American tennis professional has made giant strides this season. He started his season by playing in the ASB Classic tournament. However, he was knocked out in the second round of the tournament by David Goffin. He then participated in the Australian Open. But he lost to Jiri Lehecka in the second-round of this competition.
In both the Dallas Open, Del Ray Beach Open, and Mexican Open, Chris Eubanks lost in the first round. He could not qualify for the main draw of the Indian Wells Open. However, in the Miami Open, he led some inspiring performances to reach the Quarter-final of the competition. But his extraordinary run was curtailed by Daniil Medvedeva who defeated him in this round.
Meanwhile, his brilliant run in this competition, helped him to climb in the ATP singles rankings. He rose to No.96 couple of days ago. This is the first time he breached into the Top 100. However, he soon slipped and is currently ranked as World No.119 in the ATP singles rankings.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)