American Christopher Eubanks Talks Laver Cup, College Tennis | Beyond the Baseline Podcast

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with 23-year-old American player Christopher Eubanks about Laver Cup, college tennis and more.
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On the latest edition of the Beyond the Baseline Podcast, host Jon Wertheim talks with 23-year-old American Christopher Eubanks about his thoughts on Laver Cup and team competition in general; what it's like to be a player in the ATP top 100-200; how tennis can diversify more; the pros and cons of college tennis and much more.

Listen to the Beyond the Baseline podcast here and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or on Stitcher.​​​​ The following transcript has been edited for clarity.

Jon Wertheim: I'm totally with you. I gotta say—usually I have reservations about mid-match coaching. I think it worked awfully well. It was great. Tell me—you're a lot closer to this than I am. But I thought the players sort of were letting everyone in on what the scouting report on the other guys were. I mean it was clear that Federer and Nadal know that that's Zverev gets negative and they know that it's been a real kind of danger to his game and they were sort of letting our world in on the scouting report a little bit. That that's how it came across to me.

Christopher Eubanks: Well yeah, but I think that essence I think that Laver Cup is pretty unique. Because it’s an exhibition that everybody wants to win. I don't think that they're too concerned with the optics or the giving up scouting reports on different guys. I think they’re like: We have to talk to this guy. We have to do whatever it takes to win. Same thing on the Team World side. You heard some very, very clear tactics. The guys are helping each other out when John was helping the players out. So I don't think they’re sitting there saying, I’d hate to expose this guy's weaknesses because the next time we play, he'll know what I'm going to do. At a higher level of tennis, the margins are so slim it’s about who can execute under pressure. You kind of know what you're going to get when you go on court. You’re not going to all of a sudden expect Rafa to start serving and volleying out of nowhere a couple times a game, that’s not what he does. You know what the game styles are going to be.


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Jon Wertheim
JON WERTHEIM

Jon Wertheim is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and has been part of the full-time SI writing staff since 1997, largely focusing on the tennis beat , sports business and social issues, and enterprise journalism. In addition to his work at SI, he is a correspondent for "60 Minutes" and a commentator for The Tennis Channel. He has authored 11 books and has been honored with two Emmys, numerous writing and investigative journalism awards, and the Eugene Scott Award from the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Wertheim is a longtime member of the New York Bar Association (retired), the International Tennis Writers Association and the Writers Guild of America. He has a bachelor's in history from Yale University and received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He resides in New York City with his wife, who is a divorce mediator and adjunct law professor. They have two children.