Christopher Eubanks is finding his feet as the 2023 season enters its final stage, but the 27-year-old admits feeling the internal psychological pressures of going deeper into tournaments.
In 2023, Eubanks experienced some high-profile success in some of the biggest ATP competitions. The world number 29 reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon before losing to world number three Danill Medvedev and he progressed to the final eight at the Miami Open and the Atlanta Open.
However, in the first round of the 2023 Canadian Open, the American wasn't able to follow up on the previous success against Gael Monfils. Eubanks admitted the bitter-sweet feeling of achieving success as going further in competitions comes with the internal battle of higher expectations.
"I think now when I show up to tournaments I feel like, Hey, I could really be here for a while. And this is the first time really in my career that I've ever had that, say, self-imposed pressure a little bit because I've just kind of -- I think I told somebody recently that I would show up to tournaments and, like, Oh, man, if I could get through a couple rounds, that's a good week for me."
To get the most out of his game, Eubanks also feels he needs to find a mid-point between managing expectations and pushing himself to the next level. Ultimately, the 27-year-old believes this approach will help him to push on in tournaments like it did when he won the Mallorca Championships in July.
"While that mindset has kind of served me well, I think in certain times or certain weeks it maybe held me back. So it's like trying to find that balance on being -- still keeping that freedom like I feel like I've had in Mallorca -- well, I mean, for the past year, really, I have been playing really, really free."
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