On Friday, Oracle announced the recipients of its second annual US Tennis Awards, which provide grants to former collegiate players to support career development as they enter the professional tour. For many talented players, the road to competing at the pro level comes with a hefty price tag for trainers, coaches, equipment, travel and more. The Oracle US Tennis Awards serve to help offset some of these costs to allow promising players to develop their game and compete at the highest levels.
UTR was lucky enough to speak with this year’s winners, Francesca Di Lorenzo of Ohio State, and Chris Eubanks of Georgia Tech. Di Lorenzo and Eubanks were selected as the winners by a six-member advisory council of former tennis professionals and executives to each receive the award and a $100,000 grant administered by the ITA.
Francesca Di Lorenzo
Francesca Di Lorenzo, 20, played for two years at Ohio State University, where she won the 2017 NCAA women’s doubles title and finished the season as the No. 1 singles and No. 3 doubles player in the ITA Rankings. She currently holds a UTR of 12.26.
Universal Tennis: What does winning the Oracle US Tennis Award mean to you?
Francesca Di Lorenzo: I’m extremely excited to be receiving this award. It's pretty incredible to see what Oracle is doing to support U.S. players and I'm so happy to be apart of it. Having this grant will take some pressure off of me trying to make enough money to cover my expenses and be able to focus more on the tennis and getting better. It will also allow me to have a coach on the road much more often which will impact my development greatly.
UTR: What are your goals for the next year, or five years?
FDL: I honestly just want to continue to develop my game and create an identity for myself as a player. I feel like there’s a lot of room for improvement in my game and I can really push to break through. In terms of ranking this year, I would love to be at the point that I’m in the qualies of grand slams. For the next five years and afterward, the goal would be high enough where I’m able to consistently play the main draw of grand slams.
UTR: What tournaments do you have coming up over the next few months?
FDL: I’m going to be playing the four U.S. clay court tournaments, the 60k’s and 80k’s in order to make a push into French Open qualies. After that I’m not so sure, so kind of depends on how those tournaments go.
UTR: What are you most looking forward to playing?
FDL: Obviously the slams are the most exciting times of the year, so I really look forward to playing those if I make it in. I’m most excited about the U.S. Open though because I know I have a wildcard into qualies based on winning the American Collegiate Invitational last year so I’m pumped for that.
UTR: How has it been transitioning from college tennis to the pro tour?
FDL: It’s been challenging at times but at the same time very fun for me. I’m friends with a lot of the other American girls so it always fun seeing each other at tournaments and meeting up. The tour is definitely a grind though, not going to lie. Trying to find cheap places to stay and transportation can be strenuous. Continuing to get better when you’re alone on the road without a coach is really difficult but you kind of have to find a way to continue to get better because if you don’t others will.
UTR: You played in college before going pro. How did you make that decision and why was it right for you?
FDL: I loved my experience at Ohio State so making the decision to turn pro was very difficult for me. I thought about it pretty much every day in the fall (when I took the fall off to play tournaments) and made a pros and cons list of leaving school. I also accomplished a lot of the goals I had wanted to achieve in college and felt that I was ready for the next step. This has been my dream since I picked up a racket and I wanted to pursue it.
UTR: Any advice for younger players who are working to go pro?
FDL: My advice would be to continue to believe in your game and stay focused if you really want to go pro. Tennis has to be your number one priority. It’s definitely not an easy path but the work pays off and is very rewarding when it does.
Chris Eubanks
Chris Eubanks, 21, turned pro last year after playing at Georgia Tech University for three years and learned to play tennis through a community program in Atlanta. He was a two-time ACC player of the year and in 2017 received the ITA Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award. He finished the 2017 collegiate season as the No. 8 singles player and currently holds a UTR of 14.9.
Universal Tennis: What does winning the Oracle US Tennis Award mean to you?
Chris Eubanks: It’s an honor to be awarded the US Tennis Award by Oracle & ITA. It shows how much they believe in me and that they are willing to support my dream. I am extremely blessed and fortunate. This will really help the trajectory of my career, a lot of times when players leave college to play professionally, they have the financial worry of will they have the necessary means to pay for coaching and training, and that burden has been lifted off of my shoulders for a while. Now I can focus on just playing and improving my game and not worrying about the repercussions of losing. It’s an honor and a huge help.
UTR: What are your goals for the next year, or five years?
CE: Right now I’m taking a different approach and trying to get better and better each day - every day, I work so that if I played myself a couple weeks ago, I will win today. I am really working on showing progress and shoring up my weaknesses while continuing to better my weapons to make them even more dangerous on the court. It’s tough to put a benchmark on where I want to be in the next year, but I feel like if I can succeed in putting my head down and improving, the results will come.
UTR: What tournaments do you have coming up over the next few months?
CE: I’ll be playing in the main draw at the Miami Open. Then in three weeks, I’ll be in Mexico at a Challenger series and hopefully qualifying for more major tournaments after that.
UTR: How has it been transitioning from college tennis to the pro tour?
CE: It’s a difficult transition but I’m handling it as well as I can. I’ve been staying disciplined in my training and am continuing to do everything I can to focus on every day and get better. I’ve locked myself down in terms of extra activities - this is my job now and I want to be the best player I can be. Having that mentality makes it an easier transition - every month I’ll be in a stronger place professionally and mentally as I get more experience.
UTR: You played in college before going pro. How did you make that decision and why was it right for you?
CE: For me, not going to college was not an option. So it was an easy decision. If you want to develop and develop your body college is great but if you feel you’re physically ready to go out there and you have the skill set to back it up then that’s different. I think the vast majority of 17 and 18-year olds aren’t ready to go out there and compete with grown men, which is not their fault, but I think it’s good to go out and use that time in college to develop your body, mind, and skill set to become a better player.
UTR: Any advice for younger players who are working to go pro?
CE: Focus on development and focus on the long-term - you want to be the best when you’re 18, 19, 20; not just the best at 14. Sometimes the players who are best when they are 14 end up dwindling as they get older. Develop a game that’s beneficial for the long haul and you’ll succeed. It’s the best route to go to be the best tennis player you can be.
