Get to know U.S. tennis star Christopher Eubanks ahead of Paris 2024 (2024)

Since he was a toddler, Christopher Eubanks has had a tennis racket in his hands almost constantly. He has spent over 20 years perfecting his craft and working his way up the professional circuit, culminating in what will be his first Olympic appearance at Paris 2024 where his talents will be on full display.

Standing at 6-foot-7, Eubanks is one of the tallest players on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour, utilizing his frame to unleash one of the best serves in the world. He ranks fourth on the Tour in serve rating and can reach speeds up to 129 mph. The lithe 27-year-old covers ground with ease, pairing his power with immense skill which has propelled him up the ATP world rankings over the last two years.

Now, he will look to continue his ascension on the international stage representing Team USA.

As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.

• Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.

Christopher Eubanks’ path to the pros

Eubanks started playing tennis at the age of two. Even when he was not strong enough to hold the racket properly, he would spend hours with his father and brother outside on the courts working on his swing. He looks back fondly on these early tennis memories and credits these practice sessions for laying the foundation of his professional career. Eubanks became infatuated with the sport, admiring the game's greats like Arthur Ashe and Roger Federer.

As a child in Atlanta, he had the opportunity to befriend Donald Young and looked up to his parents, who were former tennis players themselves. Young had a long career, turning professional in 2004 and ranked as high as 38th in the world at his peak, and his parents ran a tennis facility about five minutes away from Eubanks’ childhood home. A young Eubanks would spend several days a week training with the Young family at the facility, supplementing these training sessions with his father’s coaching.

“When I got around Donald and got to get better and better, that’s when I got back to, “Maybe I could do this one day,” Eubanks said in a 2018 interview with the United States Tennis Association.

Eubanks attended Westlake High School, helping his team to regional titles in 2011 and 2013. He shined on the junior circuit in 2013, going 48-6 and winning the Georgia State Closed Junior Challenger. Eubanks chose to stay close to home for college, attending Georgia Tech. This allowed him to still get his practice sessions in with Young while having the luxury of friends and family attending his matches.

Going 90-33 in singles play during his three-year collegiate career, Eubanks became a two-time all-American and was also named ACC Player of the Year twice. He chose to forgo his final year of NCAA eligibility, turning pro on 23 October 2017.

Christopher Eubanks’ professional career

Eubanks' rise to notoriety on the ATP circuit took persistence, finally breaking into the top 100 of the world rankings in 2023, six years after his professional debut. In fact, from 2017 to 2022, he won nine of his 21 matches. During this stretch, he recalls feeling the weight of expectation.

“For about four or five years, I did feel pressure on myself. I felt like I wasn't achieving what I thought I would and I felt like I was putting a lot of added pressure on myself,” Eubanks said in an interview with CBS Mornings. “Probably over these past 12 months, I've just kind of embraced a more process [oriented] mindset.”

This shift in mentality led to a prosperous 2023, when Eubanks began to take off. He won 21 of his 41 matches, including winning his first ATP title and making his first deep Major tournament run. In March 2023, he won a career-best four consecutive matches to reach the quarterfinals of the 2023 Miami Open before losing to fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev. Later that year, Eubanks qualified for the 2023 Mallorca Championship, upsetting third seed Ben Shelton on his path to his first ATP title.

Eubanks followed this up with his Wimbledon debut, winning four matches including knocking out fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, to reach the first Major quarterfinal of his career before losing to Medvedev in five sets. Despite coming up just short, this was a major development for his career as he flew up the ATP rankings and gained more widespread recognition for his talents.

"For a long time, I questioned 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,” said Eubanks in his post-match press conference after defeating Tsitsipas.

He also explained that his friendships with Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff have been pivotal in helping him build his confidence on the court. Eubanks has known Gauff since she was an aspiring youth tennis player and their friendship has continued to blossom over the years.

"They've been saying for a long time that they feel like I belong at his level," he said. “That's kind of been the main thing of just reinforcing and instilling confidence, ‘Hey, you can play at this level, you just have 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."

Eubanks is currently ranked No. 44 in the world and he reached his career-high ranking of No. 29 in July 2023.

Team USA’s Paris 2024 outlook

Appearing in his first Games, Eubanks will be joined on the U.S. men’s singles team by Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Marcos Giron. Coco Guaff, Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, and Emma Navarro will represent the U.S. in the women’s singles.

The United States has won 14 gold medals in tennis since it returned to the Games as a full-medal sport at Seoul 1988.

The tennis competition at Paris 2024 will take place from 27 July through 4 August on the clay courts of Roland Garros. It is the first time Olympics tennis will be played on clay since Barcelona 1992.