Christopher Eubanks has used inspiration from Jamie Foxx to motivate him to new heights as he breaks into the world’s top 100 for the first time.
An amazing run from Eubanks continues as he reaches the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000 for the first time in his career.
The American defeated Adrian Mannarino in two tiebreakers to reach the last eight in Miami in an incredible run.
Eubanks started the tournament in the qualifying rounds but hasn’t let that affect him as he is now into the quarter-finals.
That’s not all in terms of Eubanks’ achievements this week though as he is now a top 100 player for the first time in his career after an astonishing week.
Speaking after the match Eubanks spoke about how it feels to be in the last eight and the emotion that went through his mind when he found out about the milestone, “It feels good, it feels good. Just like yesterday felt good, this feels great,” Eubanks told the ATP website.
“Just something about all of the delays and the stopping, the starting, the warming up and cooling down and warming up, it makes a match like this even sweeter and to think it was for my first Masters 1000 quarter-final is really, really special. It feels great, it feels good right now.
“I think last night was just so many different emotions just because of being down in the breaker, my mind kind of already floated to the idea of a third set, so to be able to come back and win it, it was a lot.
“It was a lot, saving five set points and to be able to come back, it was more just kind of shock that I’d actually won the match and then to find out afterwards that match put me in the Top 100, that’s when the emotion came out. Today feels a little bit more like, ‘Hey, I’m here. Trust it. I’m playing well and let’s just see how long we can keep this thing going.”
Keep it going Eubanks has as he has a quarter-final with Daniil Medvedev to look forward to on Thursday.
However if Eubanks did need any motivation, then it looks like there is a celebrity friend of his that is keen to help him out.
Jamie Foxx as well as NFL legend Chad Johnson came out with messages of support as Eubanks broke new ground on the ATP tour in Miami.
It turns out Eubanks has kept regular contact with the pair with the American looking to use their feedback as motivation to continue to progress on the tour, “It’s amazing man. It’s really, really cool. I’ve known Foxx for two, three years now and he’s become a really, really close friend, someone I can call if I just want to kind of talk through life a little bit,” Eubanks revealed.
“Chad and I actually connected for the first time two or three weeks ago. He posted a video playing tennis and I think we had DM’d in the past and when he posted the video I commented saying, ‘Hey man that looks pretty good.’ He commented back saying, ‘I would love to get on the court with you,’ so I immediately shot him a DM I said, ‘Hey I’m going to be down in Miami for the Miami Open if you want to come out I can see about getting you a credential.’
“We were able to do that and he’s such an avid sports fan. He loves following tennis. He was super excited to be able to meet Carlitos today, he got to meet Tommy the other day. So he’s an all-around sports junkie. It was really cool for him to be able to come out.
“He stuck through one or two rain delays… It’s been really cool to see the outpouring of support. DJ D-Nice is another person who reached out and I got to meet. It’s been really, really cool.”
Eubanks will look to use these celebrity messages to his advantage as he looks to reach a Masters 1000 semi-final for the first time in his career.
Eubanks’ Miami Open Route:
QR1: def Abedallah Shelbayh 6-3 6-3
QR2: def Lukas Klein 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6(4)
R1: def Denis Kudla 7-6(2) 6-2
R2: def Borna Coric 3-6 6-4 6-2
R3: def Gregoire Barrere 6-3 7-6(7)
R4: def Adrian Mannarino 7-6(2) 7-6(5)
