"It's like a switch flick" - Christopher Eubanks reflects on practicing with Roger Federer
US pro Christopher Eubanks on his training experience with Roger Federer and Serena Williams - and an unpleasant hit for the maestro.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Dec 11, 2019, 12:49 pm
A few balls beating Roger Federer? Probably the dream of every tennis player. The American Christopher Eubanks had already received this honor twice, in 2017 and 2018 at the US Open. In Cincinnati this year, Eubanks was back with the Maestro at the start, for a real training session this time, however, for one and a half to two hours.
With Federer it is completely relaxed, so the 23-year-old in the podcast of the US magazine Tennis . "He's so disarming, because he's just so relaxed. You don't feel like "Oh my god, I can't miss." He's missing, hitting off the back foot, trying drop shots ... You just feed the next ball, "said Eubanks.
Federer experience: "This is how you get to 20 Grand Slams"
But then things went differently than planned. "He's comes up for a few volleys. I's striking it well at that point, feeling good. He hits me a ball low to backhand and I strike it clean. I did not think the ball was going over the net. He doesn't think it's going over the new and kind of stops. But he gets right over - and hit him in the groin. He bends over, drops his racket ... and the crowd goes boooo ... "
But Federer was cool. "I take my hands on my head, I go on the net and I said, 'Man, I'm so sorry! Please, please, do not kick me out. '"Federer just laughed. "Man, it's all good, all good" - and they kept playing.
In general, the training with Federer had been an impressive experience. They had played exercise forms - he had a half, Federer cover the entire place. "They said: Move him, run him. It's like a switch flick. His intensity went to something I had never seen before. He was running down ballsHe played back balls that were three feet wird, five feet long. He was so low, so quick, so explosive. I just thought, okay, this is how you get 20 Grand Slams. I get it now."
Training with Serena: Do not miss a ball!
He also trained a lot with Serena Williams, and she was different with her. Her intensity is high at the first ball already, as soon as she comes to the court. "Then you have the feeling: All right, I can't miss."
Eubanks himself dreams of the spheres of a Federer or a Williams still, he is currently listed in 230th place in the ATP ranking, was already in spring 147th place. And in this direction it should go again. His goal for 2020: to reach the top 100 - or even to crack it.
The Federer experience could be helpful.