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JW
Hey everyone. Welcome to a special quick served edition. JW in the house. Techie Sean, Producer Mike, friend of the show, Chris Eubanks. Chris, welcome to the show. How you doing man?
Chris Eubanks
I'm well. How are you guys?
JW
Everything is great. You had sent me a text a couple of weeks ago and we chat regularly. Why are you on today, bud?
Chris Eubanks
Oh man, I thought you were going to tee me up to go ahead and make it super dramatic and I have the whole like finger down on the post. That's it.
JW
Okay, well let's let, let's talk about this. You're coming on to make an announcement to tell us what the next couple years of your life. You're going to press a button right now and it will go out. This quick serve will come out this afternoon on a Monday. But what are you doing pressing that button, Eubanks?
Chris Eubanks
I've just pressed it right now and I guess I am, I am not. I guess I'm publicly announcing that I am. I feel like Serena right now. I don't want to say the word retiring.
JW
Evolving.
Chris Eubanks
It's like just a weird word, evolving. But I, I am evolving. Retiring. I am. I am. Moral of the story is I'm taking a step back from playing and will for the next at least year pursue broadcast full time. And I'm super excited to obviously take this next step, move into a new direction. Something that I've kind of found a passion for over the past few years and honestly I just enjoy doing. It's given me a nice sense of happiness. It's kind of like the nerves and the butterflies that you get when you're stepping on court before you're going on air. I barely could sleep last night knowing I was gonna come on and talk to you guys about it. So it's. It truly. It feels good. It feels like it's the right decision, and I'm super excited for what the future has.
JW
Walk us through kind of the process over the last year because you're in kind of a unique situation where obviously you've been playing tennis your entire life. You get to top 30, you're a grand Slam quarterfinalist, you've had a lot of successes on the court, and yet, in my opinion, as a broadcaster, you. You're like the. A number one draft pick. Right. So it's almost as if, because you're so good at broadcasting, how has that affected your decision? And kind of just walk us through the nuts and bolts of how you got to this decision.
Chris Eubanks
Yeah, it's a great question. Yeah. I mean, this year, I came into this year with some really high hopes to kind of get myself back to the level. Not necessarily the level of my play, but the ranking or near the ranking that I felt like my level deserves and hard work that I put in. I felt like I, you know, top 50, top 60. I wanted to get back, like you say, to that top 30 level. And came in with some high expectations. Started off, I think I was around 120, maybe 110, somewhere around there, just outside of top 100, and came into the year playing a really good level, really liked where I was. And as the year started to progress, it started to get. It just felt longer. It felt like I was spending more time at tournaments. I think I did Australia to France to. Straight from France to Portugal to Dallas to Delray. And then I came home and I'm like, each week, mentally, you're telling yourself, all right, I'm playing great in practice. I'm doing all the right stuff off the court. Any week it's going to turn. Because I've seen firsthand in 2023 how just one week can just shift everything. So you're keeping this positive outlook. You're doing all the right stuff. And for what? For whatever reason, one reason or another, the results aren't coming. And the hardest thing I even spoke about in 2023 is not focusing on the results, focusing on the process. And that's where my focus was. Well, you can only focus on the process so long without getting the results before you start to kind of second guess and question a lot of. So we. I have two really big opportunities in that post. Indian Wells and I played Riley and Del Rey. Just a bad matchup for me. I hate playing Riley. It's just everything I do he can kind of counter it. He moves well. I want to use my kick serve. His backhand return is just firing through the court, so. And it's just uncomfortable matchups. I play him in Delray main draw, then I play him in Miami main draw. Two big opportunities, two Ls, and so now I know. Okay, the clay court season is coming up. It's not normally my best time of the year. I went to Charlotte, we got to get on court, which was awesome. But again, my outlook is still positive. I know things can turn really quickly. And when the confidence started to kind of go, that's when you start to second guess. And also at that same exact time, I would see people. And the common theme I kept getting is, oh, hey, you play tennis, right? You know, I love you, I love watching you play, but I really love you broadcasting. And it was the same thing in airports, in restaurants, in everything. So initially, granted, I'll take. I'm so grateful for the compliments and the great words, but I'm still like, no, I'm a player. Like, thank you. I appreciate it. But, like, I want to get back to where you're talking about my level and my play when more so than broadcast. And again, the frustrating thing was in practice, I am just. I'm.
JW
I'm.
Chris Eubanks
I feel like I'm 20, 23 again. I feel like I'm playing well. I'm having great sessions, but as you know, Andy, and I'm sure all of you guys, you've been around tennis enough. It's. The level is there, but how you deal with diversity in the middle of the match makes a lot. It frames your mindset a lot. So I'm come out and playing strong. Three all, four all first set. And there's just that one thing that goes against you. 15:30, Guy gets a let court dribbler. Now I'm having to say break point at 15:40, and my mind is going to a really dark place. You wouldn't be able to tell on the court because I can kind of keep it in, but my mind is getting really dark. And it's those moments in the matches that I just. I wasn't dealing with very well. Just straight up, like, I was not dealing with that. Those kind of those pivotal moments. And I could get really negative when they went against me. And it just kind of snowballed into a momentum where I just felt like I was chasing my tail for the next few months. And. And that's kind of how we ended up post US Open, where I kind of take After Asia, same thing over and over again. Lost six and a third before the Open. Lost six and a third another week before the Open. Like, it's just constant. You feel like you're running uphill. And it was after Asia that I kind of came to a realization where I was like, I don't think I'm happy right now. I don't think this is me. I don't think me as a person. I don't like who I am. I began to self isolate. I began to dive even harder into the tennis and the. Studying the film, watching my old matches, watching other people's matches, figuring out what are the things that I can do that can make some changes and for some improvements. Doesn't always work like that. And that was building more and more frustration. I wasn't engaging with my coaches the same. I was very, go to courts, go to hotel, you do dinner. I'm gonna sit in and order in food because I don't. I don't need to go out. I don't want to go out. I don't deserve to go out because I'm not winning. And when I saw it began to affect how I am as a person, I was like, whoa, we may need to take a step back and reevaluate a little bit.
Techie Sean
Can I ask, this is fascinating to me because while you're struggling as a player, you're a rocket ship as a broadcaster. You and I work together at Tennis Channel, and a year later, you're suddenly on the finals of majors. What was the interplay between your tennis career and also spending so much time around the sport in production meetings, watching matches? It's kind of. I don't know if we've ever had a situation like this where you're trying to. Your career is going one direction and the broadcasting is going the other. What was the interplay between the two of them?
Chris Eubanks
Yeah, it's. I always. I tried to do as good of a job as I could to keep the tennis the first and the most important thing, because I realized that you only have a certain amount of time physically to play professional sports. So I always wanted to make sure that's the first and the most important thing that I am focusing on. But there was. There was this weird sense of. While I wasn't necessarily happy on the court, I was really happy doing broadcast. I was really happy sitting in a room with people and talking tennis and debating and arguing whether we're in the green room or just simply watching a match about strategy, about, you think this player should do This, I think they should do this. And that is what, that's what I really enjoyed. So I knew that what I was feeling wasn't necessarily if the sport itself. Like, I wasn't having a disdain or a hate of tennis. It was more so my own internal conflict and my relationship with tennis, of playing that was kind of more on the negative side. Tennis as a whole, like watching matches, like I still watching matches, studying matches. And it's just something that I felt like gave me a lot of happiness, a lot of joy to be around a bunch of tennis minds and be able to talk about the sport. So that was great. And then when that ended, which I would only do it at the Slams, I did Roland Garros, I did US Open, right when it ended, it's like, all right, full time playing, let's focus on playing. Let's get these results right. Let's completely throw broadcast at the back burner. And I'm going right back on that hamster wheel. I'm doing all the work, all the things I need to, and the results aren't coming. And then that goes to my earlier point. People coming up to you, hey, I love you on court, but I really like the broadcast now. It's really settling in. Like, geez, man, people have been talking about this broadcast stuff for a while now, and it's something that makes me happy. You know what? That's. There's that internal conflict of, do I continue to play tennis because I want to, you know, maybe prove to myself, approve to others that I can get back to where I was, or do I want to make a decision that's going to be in the best interest of my own happiness and me as a person? And that's kind of how things kind of. I tried to balance the two of, of still understanding. I love tennis, but me playing is the main priority. And I'm going after, going after, going after it. Still not happening, still not happening the way that I want. And you just kind of had to, had to come to a realization and kind of have a big talk with myself.
JW
This could be a weird question. I'm just going to project kind of my feelings and experiences. When I started thinking, like when retirement would cross my mind, and I was young, too, I was maybe about your age or maybe just a year older, I'd get hurt and I'd rush back. And if I was hurt and I wasn't playing tournaments, I would almost have this sense of guilt about it, right? Like where I kind of was on the sidelines. I'd try to rush back. And then whenever I thought about stopping, I probably thought about it. Not seriously, just it would cross my mind. I remember leaving Wimbledon Center Court after I lost in 2012. I walked off and I waved to the crowd. And the only reason I waved because I wasn't. For the first time, I wasn't positive that I was going to play it the next year. And I only thought about it when I was walking from my chair. And I had this sense of almost like guilt about it. Did you have any guilt, rightly or wrongly, about, okay, I'm in Australia, I lost, but I'm still gonna stay here to do this other thing while everyone else is leaving and going on to the next thing. How did you kind of work that dance between, okay, I'm gonna stay in Paris for two and a half full weeks while doing TNT's coverage, while. While everyone else is going to get on grass or to go do other things? Even though pragmatically it's the right decision, everyone understands taking opportunity when it presents itself. I always say, I think the sport chooses you a lot of the time, and broadcasting has certainly chosen you. But talk through that mental struggle, even even though it was responsible decision making, was there any guilt involved with balancing the broadcasting and the playing?
Chris Eubanks
Not really. I would say I'm big in organizing, I'm big in planning. So when these things came up about opportunities to do Australia and have to stay another week, I formulated the rest of my schedule based on, okay, I may be sacrificing a week here, so I have to be willing to play an extra week here. Like, I have to be willing to have that trade off. It's not just going to be an empty week off of my ranking. It's going to be, all right, well, since I'm not playing the first tournament in Portugal, I'm going to make sure I play the second tournament in Portugal and then go to Montpellier and then go straight from Montpellier to Dallas and then from Dallas straight to Delray. So whereas some players can kind of, you know, you guys talk at length about the schedule for the guys that are outside of 100. You know, we hear a lot of the guys at the top talk about how long the schedule is, but for the guys outside of 100, it's maybe a little bit longer. Actually, it is a little bit longer because there's certain times when the Masters 1000s are going, you can play two tournaments while one is still going on. So, like, there are a lot of opportunities to play when you're at that Hundred ranking. You could play every week if you want to. I just said, all right. Since I know that I may be giving up one week for Australia. I gave up one week to do Roland Garros coverage for tnt. That was a big one because that was the first one on grass. I still prioritize early morning trainings during TNT. Man. We were up on the court at 7am at the NTC 7 to 9, doing strength and conditioning and then going straight from there to set and therefore an extended period of time. So I still wanted to make sure the tennis was getting done first. I wasn't going to try to take a chance and I'll broadcast and then go practice. It's like, no, let's get the practice in first rest of the day. Let's focus on that. And so that first week, I think it was Birmingham on the grass was the week that I, in theory was a sacrifice week because I. It was on grass. Second week of rolling Garros. I wasn't there, but I played Newport right after Wimbledon. So like, I'm adding in, I'm trying to make it match up to where I'm not really sacrificing weeks. Maybe that, that Birmingham week was a sacrifice, but because I had planned it out far enough in advance and I knew what was coming, my coaches knew we were all on the same page, hey, this is what I want to do. This is a great opportunity. Everyone was super supportive as long as I continued to do the work and play the other weeks. And no, never really came up as.
JW
An issue for me how walk through. And obviously this is like crazy interesting for the reasons we're talking about with the broadcasting versus the playing and kind of that offset to John's point, I don't know that I kind of remember this with, with, with. With a player. You know, Mack kind of slid into the booth right after he stopped. I don't know how much of a. A factor that was. But let's focus on the tennis for a second. You do something your entire life, you're around it, your relationships are built by this sport. Walk us through kind of this set emotionally. If we take the broadcasting and the fact that you have something to look forward to, which is not always the case when people stop, right? So I think that's a huge advantage for you. And I've talked to a million players where it's like, okay, what now? You know, the what now? But talk through just kind of, hey, listen, I'm not a pro tennis player right now, right? This is not what I'M dedicating my life to. And I know this is fresh. I know you've been kind of noodling it. We've talked about it over the last couple of weeks a little bit, but just kind of talk through. Is it sadness? Is it joy? Is it gratitude? Is it all of those? Is it a big tent of emotion?
Chris Eubanks
Yeah, man, great question. I'm so happy. I can't. I can't tell you how happy I am. Like, it's. It's. It's gonna sound so weird. Initially, I think you mentioned about guilt. The. The guilt that I felt in the beginning was that I'm 29 years old. This was only two years ago that I was playing some of the best tennis of my life. And I feel like, objectively, when I watch myself now and I notice myself in practice, I'm a better tennis player now than I was then. Then things were just kind of happening, and I was swinging. It's like, I think I understand the game better now. So the guilt is like, man, you're 29. You have time. Like, I've seen guys like Jan Leonard Struf have his career year at 30. You know, first time, I think at 32. Then again, I think 35. I'm not mistaken, mid-30s. So another big guy, powerful game. I'm like, it's not too late, but I had to take a step back and say, would I continue to play for. Because I feel like I'm supposed to, because this is what I've always done, or am I doing it to prove to other people that I can get back there? Like, if that's the reason that I'm playing, that's not a good enough reason. Like, it has to be me internally wanting to get back. It can't be outside motivation or being, oh, I want to make sure everyone knows that I can get back there. It's like, I don't really care about that. How am I feeling? And when I kind of had to reframe my perspective and say, all right, take yourself back to a kid in Atlanta who didn't really know if you were going to be a pro. A kid who used Jameer Jenkins and Donald Young's hand me down rackets. All the way up until college, I never traveled for international for a tournament. I never played a match on clay until Roland Garros in 2018. Like, I didn't do fitness until my freshman year of college. Like, all of these things when I had to reframe my perspective and say, dude, you were so fortunate that you Even had a sniff of what you've been able to accomplish. Like you, like beyond my wildest comprehension, my 14 to 15 year old self. You said, hey, you can go to Georgia Tech. And I ended up playing for three years. But if you told me I'd have a college scholarship to play Division 1 tennis and would be top 10 in the country, I'd say, job well done. Like, that's, that's incredible. To then flip that to, oh, I turned a pro. I got to play in all the majors. I've won challenger titles. You told. I remember watching the USCA pro circuit as a kid, watching these challengers going, man, like, doesn't look that glamorous, but it'd be cool to win a challenger. Like, I remember winning my first challenger match and then I have however many titles now, like 4 or whatever it is, like, wow, that's crazy. Main draw, the U.S. open. Wow, that's crazy. Like, each of these things I've been able to accomplish, reframing the perspective of saying, go back to 14 year old self. Would you be upset or disappointed in yourself that you didn't do more? Or could you have that appreciation that the fact that it happened in the first place is way stronger than any feeling of sadness or despair that you didn't do it again? It's like, dude, I was so lucky to do it the first time. I was so lucky that the dream three weeks of my life aligned perfectly to allow me to keep those points for the Olympics the next year. It's like so many things had to align so perfectly. And yeah, I can sit here and pout and be like, no, no, no, I'm gonna keep going. Cause I'm supposed to. Cause I'm only 29. Or I can say, you know what I feel at this point, I'm not as happy as I once was. And when you take a step back and you look at the whole picture of what's happened is like, I've been, I've been far, I've been far more blessed than I could have ever dreamed ever. So it's like that. And then that's when everything shifted to happiness. I'm like, man, I get to spend more time at home. I can take that mindset and that, have a bit of an obsessive nature about things. I can take that obsessive nature and put it into something else that I enjoy and I can have. I can wake up every day and be excited about. This is what I want to do. How can I get better at this? I'm still following matches. I'm still, you know, watching matches and even now probably being a bit more obsessive and diligent about, of jotting down notes about players and matches. So I have things to refer to when we get into broadcast next year. Like it's just I can take all of the things and the skills that tennis taught me and throw it into something else that I'm super happy about. And I honestly, I couldn't be happier.
Techie Sean
But keep, keep going with that. I think that's a really interesting point. As you transition, there is, you know, there's no scoreboard in broadcasting. There's no 52 week rankings. There are no playing one hundreds and then trying to make a tour event. Have you thought about how you are going to self assess next year? How you, someone as goal oriented as you, how are you going to judge success?
Chris Eubanks
Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. And I've had, I've had some conversations with friends who know and even my, some my agents and there is this weird feeling because for so long my, my idea of success and failure was predicated on the score. You knew when you walked on the court whether or not you won or lost. You could also say if you lose but you play really well, hey, it's a positive sign. But you have some type of metric that you can always revert to to say okay, that was good, that was bad and broadcast is not like that. It's totally up to the viewer and it's totally up to the producers that are in your ear to give you cues and it's, it's going to be interesting. I don't really know how I will assess. I think when doing broadcast, when you have a good segment, you kind of know it right after, you know whether or not your thoughts were succinct. You know, if you hit everything the way you wanted to, there's just a feeling there. The biggest thing for me is just going to be chasing that feeling and just knowing, okay, that felt good. You know, what's the feedback? Also I think finding a group of people who you value their feedback a bit more because obviously doing broadcasts, everybody with a social media platform is going to express their opinions and tell you what they think about you. If you get too obsessed in it, you can kind of lose your mind. I want to find a group of people who I truly value, who have expertise in this field who can watch me and assess and say, hey, I think you're doing this well. I think you could do this better. And, and those would be the people that I go to, to help me progress, to help me just kind of judge how I'm moving along in this space. And we're going to put my best or I'm going to put my best foot forward in it. It's not going to be something that I kind of half do. It's, I'm going to go all in. I'm going to devote the time that's necessary and I'm really, really looking forward to it.
JW
Chris, can you give us any insight as to what it looks like next year? And I don't know where you're at with your conversations with any, any companies or anything, but are you planning on being at the Slams? Are you, you know, are we going to see you kind of all the time because of, because of the space that you've created? Like, what are your goals? What are you chasing now? Right as you, because you are a planner, we're looking here and it's, you know, November 17th and 2026 is around the corner. So what are your immediate plans and what are your long term goals with this new career?
Chris Eubanks
Yeah, so immediate plans we will start. We're in conversations about potentially working some of the Grand Slams, if not all that has to get kind of ironed out in the next couple of weeks. That's kind of the thing that I'm probably most excited about because it gives me an opportunity to be on the ground, which is where I feel like I just enjoy a lot more. I enjoy being at the tournament, being able to go and watch practices, being able to have easy access and be able to talk to players. So that's kind of the plan right now. Stuff outside of that, it's just, it's schedule dependent. I don't think you're going to see me every single week of every single 250 that's going on in Bucharest and a WTA event in France. Like, I don't know, I don't think I'm going to be just you're going to see me every single time. But I kind of want to make it to where when you do see me, you see how much I care. You see the effort that I'm putting into it and hopefully it's going to be a good viewing experience. But I, I can't say that it's going to be week in and week out. We're going to start trying to figure things out with, or figure things out for the Grand Slams. After that, we'll try to be a bit flexible and find other pockets of time that I Can kind of get on air. And we, and yeah, we can kind of see how things progress, if things, you know, progress. Well, I'm getting, continuing to get more feedback. We, we, you know, continue to move forward, find other ways to get better. Try to think of new and creative and innovative ways that I can maybe pitch the networks and say, hey, what if we did this? What if we tried some stuff? Maybe I'm on the court because I still plan on hitting and being in shape that at the drop of a hat, if I'm at a tournament, someone says, hey, I need a hit and I'm not working. I want to be able to get out there and hit and give them a good practice. So I'm trying to be a bit creative. That's a bit far off. I kind of want to hone in the skills of doing analyst work and also hone in the skills of broadcast on air. Two different Doing color commentating and doing analyst stuff. I want to be really good at both. So now it's really just prepping and just studying the craft. So watching matches, being a lot of. A lot more mindful of not just tennis matches, but sports broadcasts in general of how it works and the things to do, what not to do. Try not to overthink it because I kind of have that problem. But I just want to. I want people to know. It's. It's something that I take very seriously.
JW
Last question. You might not even be there yet, but your skill set as it. The focus is on tennis is. Is there. We've seen it on air, I think, and this is just my opinion, and, you know, I'm a fan of, of what you do, but do you think much about, okay, I can do stuff outside of tennis. Like you would be a layup on, like a morning show or, you know, one of the dailies or, you know, I don't. I don't know. I. My, My advice, which, you know, take it or leave it, but like, you're. You're really good, but I also think tennis, stay in it, but also use it because I think you could do stuff outside of tennis very easily as well.
Chris Eubanks
Yeah. And it's something I've thought about. It's a bit. I'll say it's a bit intimidating in a lot of ways because of. We've seen obviously, athletes who've made the transition, Nate Bros and Michael Strahan, who've gone from sports to broadcast, starting off in their sports, obviously, and then transitioning to something a bit broader. There's so many moving Parts to doing show various shows. Whether it's. You have to be so well read on so many different topics. I am a little bit. But that's, that's a. It's a little bit further, I think down the line because I think that's a different type of skills. I want to get more and more reps in the realm that I'm the most comfortable. And once I understand the mechanics of how it works of, I mean, you guys know John, you know, two different cameras and reading off a prompter and there's a lot of other things that will be new. I think I could figure it out. But right now my focus is just honing the skill set in the field that I know the best. And if opportunities approach and I feel like I can be good at it, I'm not going to. The thing is I'm not going to just take something outside of the sport because it's outside of the sport. I want to be very selective and intentional about. Okay, this is something I'm interested in. I think I could have a lot of talking points about. I will read a lot about. Okay, I'm comfortable with this opportunity. Outside of tennis, it's not just going to be. I'm going to take any and everything. I want to be very selective because I want to be good at each and everything. So yeah, it's something that has been thrown out. I think I have. I don't know, I think maybe it's just a little. I have so much respect for people who do it that I don't want to feel like, oh, I can just jump in you tennis and then you want me to like. It's like interviewing is a skill, all that stuff. It's like I don't want to.
JW
This is like our five days when we were in Charlotte this year and it's similar. Don't overthink this. You're great at it. You're really, really great at it. If the opportunity comes, don't think yourself out of any opportunity. That's that. That's my humble advice. One thing I was thinking as you were talking through your. The 14 or 15 year old version of yourself and there's one part of that that I think you left out. 14 and 15 you talked about. Hey, listen, on the tennis front, I won challengers, I won on tour. I was able to do this that would have blown my mind. How about proposing this to the 13 or 14 year old version of yourself? I became good enough at tennis that I was able to create a bridge to the next 20 or 30 years of your life. And that might be something that I'm just hoping for, but that is something to be very proud of. Let's use all these gifts and the rackets that were handed, nailed to me by Donald and Jameer and all these opportunities and to parlay that into 40 years of tennis as opposed to just eight or nine years. That's a big step that not everyone gets to. So as you're telling that story, I would allow yourself to modify that a little bit.
Chris Eubanks
Yeah, yeah, this is great. I, I, and to think about that, because I did think of that and I go, that's kind of what life is about. Not to get too deep here, but it's like each stage of life is supposed to elevate you and lead you to the next, to the next, to the next, to the next. And whether it's a job or, you know, hobbies or passions, you're looking to elevate and get better and move on into the next stage of life. And it's like, wow, putting my dad putting a record in my hand at two years old, while maybe I only saw, I was short sighted and saw, you know, a college scholarship. Okay, maybe you saw a college scholarship.
JW
At 2 years old. I was trying not to shit my pants.
Chris Eubanks
Well, I think it was more so my dad telling me that he was not paying for college. So it was kind of like, if you're going to college, you got to figure it out.
JW
Understood.
Chris Eubanks
But yeah, it leads to the next thing. And now to your point, this thing that, that moment has now gifted me an opportunity to kind of branch, you know, to remain in the sport for as long as I want. But also a whole world has opened up because of that and, and I'm again, it, I think it just feeds, goes back to that great, that gratefulness and, and just that, that feeling of gratitude that I have.
JW
Well, good man. I, I hope selfishly that this means we can get you unserved a little bit more often. Cause I know people love hearing from you. And especially when we have, especially in this vertical where we can expand on thoughts for minutes and not seconds. I'm just happy because you seem content. You seem very happy. You've left the door open enough to where if you get that itch, you can go back in. But I just think this is a great decision for you. I'm happy that you have. It doesn't seem like it's super heavy. That, that's, that's not easy and it has to be nice to, to stop tennis and step right into the. The next thing. Chris. So friend of the show, man. We're all happy for you. I can't wait to see what the. What the next chapter is, bud.
Chris Eubanks
Thank you. I'm super excited. I look forward to being on a little more, being able to talk with you guys. Yeah, we're. We're in a good space.
JW
Cheers. Banksy, go check those replies.
Chris Eubanks
Sa.
Release Date: November 17, 2025
Host: Jon Wertheim (“JW”)
Guest: Chris Eubanks (Professional tennis player & broadcaster)
Contributors: Techie Sean, Producer Mike
A special “Quick Served” episode, in which Chris Eubanks joins the show to announce he is stepping away from the ATP Tour and shifting to a full-time broadcasting career. The episode dives deep into the “evolution” of his decision, emotional challenges of leaving professional tennis, why the broadcast booth felt right, and his plans (and mindset) for the future.
— [01:53 – 02:54]
Notable Quote:
“I am not, I guess I’m publicly announcing that I am... I feel like Serena right now. I don’t want to say the word retiring... It’s like a weird word, evolving. But I am evolving. Retiring. I am taking a step back from playing and will for the next at least year pursue broadcast full time. And I’m super excited.”
— Chris Eubanks [01:53]
— [02:54 – 08:17]
Notable Quote:
“For whatever reason, one reason or another, the results aren’t coming. And the hardest thing... is not focusing on the results, focusing on the process. And that’s where my focus was. Well, you can only focus on the process so long without getting the results before you start to kind of second guess and question a lot.”
— Chris Eubanks [03:54]
— [08:17 – 11:14]
Notable Quote:
“While I wasn’t necessarily happy on court, I was really happy doing broadcast. Sitting in a room with people and talking tennis... That’s what I really enjoyed. So I knew that what I was feeling wasn’t necessarily if the sport itself... It was more so my own internal conflict and my relationship with tennis.”
— Chris Eubanks [08:49]
— [11:14 – 16:28]
Notable Quote:
“When these things came up about opportunities to do Australia and have to stay another week, I formulated the rest of my schedule based on, okay, I may be sacrificing a week here, so I have to be willing to play an extra week here... My coaches knew, we were all on the same page... so never really came up as an issue for me.”
— Chris Eubanks [12:58]
— [16:28 – 20:52]
Notable Quote:
“I had to take a step back and say, would I continue to play because I feel like I’m supposed to... or am I doing it to prove to other people that I can get back there? If that’s the reason... that’s not a good enough reason... When you take a step back and look at the whole picture, I’ve been far more blessed than I could have ever dreamed. So it shifted to happiness.”
— Chris Eubanks [16:28]
— [20:52 – 23:35]
Notable Quote:
“For so long, my idea of success and failure was predicated on the score... Broadcast is not like that. It’s totally up to the viewer and totally up to the producers... The biggest thing for me is just going to be chasing that feeling and just knowing, okay, that felt good.”
— Chris Eubanks [21:13]
— [23:35 – 25:55]
Notable Quote:
“I kind of want to make it to where when you do see me, you see how much I care. You see the effort that I’m putting into it and hopefully it’s going to be a good viewing experience... prepping and just studying the craft. Watching matches, being a lot more mindful not just of tennis matches, but sports broadcasts in general.”
— Chris Eubanks [24:24]
— [25:55 – 28:25]
Notable Quote:
“I have so much respect for people who do it that I don’t want to feel like, oh, I can just jump in... It’s like interviewing is a skill, all that stuff. I don’t want to...”
— Chris Eubanks [26:38]
— [28:25 – End]
Notable Quotes:
“How about proposing this to the 13 or 14 year old version of yourself? I became good enough at tennis that I was able to create a bridge to the next 20 or 30 years of your life... That is something to be very proud of.”
— JW [29:14]
“Each stage of life is supposed to elevate you and lead you to the next, to the next... putting my dad putting a racket in my hand at two years old... it leads to the next thing. And now... this moment has now gifted me an opportunity to remain in the sport for as long as I want.”
— Chris Eubanks [29:38]
On Stepping Away:
"I don’t want to say the word retiring... It’s like just a weird word, evolving. But I am evolving. Retiring. I am. Moral of the story is I’m taking a step back from playing and will for the next at least year pursue broadcast full time."
— Chris Eubanks [01:53]
On Internal Struggles:
"You can only focus on the process so long without getting the results before you start to kind of second guess and question a lot."
— Chris Eubanks [03:54]
On Identity Crisis:
"People have been talking about this broadcast stuff for a while now, and it’s something that makes me happy. There’s that internal conflict of, do I continue to play tennis... or do I want to make a decision that’s going to be in the best interest of my own happiness and me as a person?"
— Chris Eubanks [10:38]
On Measuring Success Off Court:
"For so long my, my idea of success and failure was predicated on the score... and broadcast is not like that. It's totally up to the viewer... The biggest thing for me is just going to be chasing that feeling and just knowing, okay, that felt good."
— Chris Eubanks [21:13]
On His Unexpected Journey:
"I never traveled for international for a tournament. I never played a match on clay until Roland Garros in 2018. Like, I didn’t do fitness until my freshman year of college... You were so fortunate that you even had a sniff of what you’ve been able to accomplish."
— Chris Eubanks [17:18]
This episode captures a turning point in Chris Eubanks’ life and career: a thoughtful, grateful transition from tennis pro to full-time broadcaster. Listeners gain insight into the mental and emotional difficulties pro athletes face, the excitement of a new chapter, and the importance of redefining success. The episode’s tone is warm and optimistic, with Eubanks’ story offering inspiration well beyond the court.