Christopher Eubanks sees his doubles partner and long-time mentor Donald Young as a big brother, but he doesn’t look up to him.
At 6-feet tall, Young barely reaches his protégé’s shoulder when standing next to him on the court. Eubanks is seven inches taller and towers over his partner and most of his opponents, but the difference in stature doesn’t stop the two from finding success as a pair.
Though the hometown duo couldn’t overcome No. 3 seed John-Patrick Smith and Nicholas Monroe on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the 2018 BB&T Atlanta Open, they have pushed each other to improve over the past nine years.
“(Young) and his family really took me under their wing when I was first coming up in juniors and allowed me to travel with them as a hitting partner to some tournaments,” Eubanks remembered. “As our relationship began to grow and I was starting to get a little bit better, we started to go out on a limb and see if we could maybe play a little bit of doubles together.”
The two first paired in Atlanta three years ago and made it to the semifinals before they were knocked out by the eventual champions, the Bryan Brothers. Two weeks ago, they joined forces again for the Nielsen Pro Tennis Championship and finished their run in the quarterfinals.
Their appearance in Atlanta this year marked the third time they played together, but both are familiar with the Georgia courts. Young has returned home to play in the annual tournament eight times, and Eubanks represented Georgia Tech on College Night last year after earning wild-card invites in 2016 and 2015.
In the past, Atlanta has been a “trouble spot” for Young, but Eubanks feeds off the comfortable atmosphere.
“Going to elementary, middle, high school and college all in the city of Atlanta, this (tournament) is literally like home because I have an apartment in Atlantic Station,” Eubanks said. “I enjoy being here as much as I can. I love this tournament every year it comes around.”
Though his run in Atlanta this year was cut short because of a loss in singles qualifiers and an emotional defeat in doubles, Eubanks displayed strong play at the net, drilling multiple overhead shots past Smith and Monroe.
Young also showed off some power while hitting numerous balls to the back of the court and whacking a stray ball toward the Downtown Connector in a moment of frustration. It was evident the ATP Tour veteran was not satisfied with the 3-6, 6-2, 10-4 result, but after beating Ivo Karlovic in singles play last night, he gets another shot at the title Thursday.
With the U.S. Open approaching, both have busy schedules, but Eubanks is packing his bags a bit earlier. He will head to Washington for the Citi Open on July 28 before traveling to Aptos, Calif., then to Vancouver for two challengers and finally arriving at the U.S. Open on Aug. 27.
The two haven’t decided when they’ll team up again, but Eubanks is hopeful they’ll “keep the magic going” in the future.
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