Google News Wimbledon sensation Christopher Eubanks tells how Naomi Osaka, Cori Gauff helped him
by DZEVAD MESIC
Wimbledon sensation Christopher Eubanks reveals Naomi Osaka and Cori Gauff have been telling him for quite some time that he can play at the highest level. On Monday, Eubanks stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6 7-6 (4) 3-6 6-4 6-4 to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon.
Eubanks, who is making his Wimbledon main draw debut, broke into the top-100 for the first time in his career in early April. Since then, Eubanks won his first ATP title in Mallorca - made his first big Grand Slam run - will be ranked around No 30 next Monday.
Now, Eubanks is grateful to Osaka and Gauff for convincing him he could be making this type of result.
Eubanks on how Osaka, Gauff supported him
"I think the biggest thing, it's a common theme amongst both of them, they've been saying for a long time that they feel like I belong at this level.
For a long time I questioned, again, whether or not I was consistent enough to play at this level really consistently. I knew I could come out on any match and maybe light it up, could cause some guys some trouble. I don't know if I really believed I could put it together match after match after match against quality opponents.
That's something Coco has been telling me for a long time. Naomi even says the same thing. That's kind of been the main thing of just reinforcing and instilling confidence. Hey, you can play at this level, you just got to believe it.
When I'm around them, to hear them talk about their belief, it's a bit infectious. It does rub off on you. When they talk about their goals or what they feel when they go on court, I feel a little bit like the odd man out because I'm like, You guys are mentally different than I am.
You guys are so much more, like, locked in and confident when you step on the court. I think it's slowly starting to rub off on me where when I step foot on the court, Hey, I can play at this level, I belong at this level. I just have to go out there and actually believe it. Be okay with giving it everything I have. Whatever the result is it is," Eubanks said.