World No. 661 Chris Eaton drives a battered second-hand car with a wing-mirror held on by duct tape, lives with his mum and dad and spends his career wandering the twilight zone of tennis.
But the Briton struck a huge blow for the Wimbledon underdog on Tuesday by reaching the second round at the All England Club against a player ranked 450 places above him.
His 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 win over Serbia’s Boris Pashanski, which came on the back of three wins in pre-qualifying and three more in main qualifying, instantly doubled the 20-year-old’s career earnings.
He is guaranteed at least US$33,000 for making the second round on his Grand Slam debut, which is not bad for a man who was playing in Uzbekistan on the eve of Wimbledon and can’t even afford a new car.
“I drive a Vauxhall Astra with duct tape on one wing mirror,” Eaton said bashfully.
At 661, Eaton is the lowest-ranked player to compete in the main draw since former champion Richard Krajicek, who made the quarter-finals on a protected ranking of 1,093 in 2002.
His humble achievements — his best singles performance was a semi-final run at a third-tier event in Israel in November last year — have restricted him to the game’s more remote outposts, such as Uzbekistan.
“Playing on the Futures circuit, it’s very hard. There’s no glamor. There’s nothing. You just got to get out there, motivate yourself. There’s no atmosphere,” said Eaton, who grew up with a love for cricket rather than tennis.
“You just got to fight for every single point, fight for every single match. Hopefully you end up here. Obviously my hard work’s paid off for me,” he said.
And what is the atmosphere like in Uzbekistan?
“Pretty dead, but I felt safe. You have to be pretty careful with the food. Actually when you figure out what you can eat, it’s fine. The hotels were fine. Just not what you’d normally see in England,” he said.
He was as anonymous in the former Soviet republic as he was at Wimbledon until Tuesday’s win over Pashanski, a former world No. 55.
Next up for Eaton, who will be keeping compatriot Andy Murray company in the next round, is a clash with explosive Russian 25th seed Dmitry Tursunov.
“He’s got some firepower. Obviously I’ve seen him quite a lot on TV. It should be a great match,” Eaton said. “I’m just going to try to keep riding the high confidence that I’ve got at the moment and that will just keep taking me through these matches.”
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