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American tennis player Christopher Eubanks reveals Serena Williams' focus was the thing that stood out to him during his practice with the 23-time Grand Slam champion. "I think the biggest thing is that I've never seen a laser-like focus like when I was practicing with Serena Williams," Eubanks said on the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast.
"Also, in turn, it made me a lot more focussed too. We can go and practice with our peers, obviously this is our job and our way of making a living, but the way she can dial in on every single ball is something that I feel would be missing in my own practice."
Eubanks: Williams is the GOAT
Eubanks, ranked at No.
157 in the world, admitted he was extra locked in during his practice with Williams as he wanted to leave a good impression. "When you're playing some guy and you miss a ball, no one is going to say a thing," he said. "But Serena is the GOAT.
I don't really want to miss balls when I am practicing with her. It's just that awareness, like I need to lock in and focus on every ball [that helped me]. There's not that many people that I've practiced with where I felt - I don't want to call it attention, but I'll just call it focus." Eubanks thinks Williams' mental strength is one of the biggest reasons behind her major success.
"I've seen [Serena Williams] play several times," Eubanks said. "The weight of the shot isn't that big. She's one of the cleanest ball-strikers ever, so I know if she hits a backhand I am going to be in trouble. There's nothing too specific about her tennis that stands out per se, but mentally it was a totally different level." Meanwhile, Eubanks made his second Indian Wells main draw appearance this year.
Eubanks won two qualifying matches to earn an Indian Wells main draw place, before beating Maxime Cressy in the first round. Eubanks' Indian Wells campaign came to an end following a second round loss to Casper Ruud.