Basketball, Anyone? Kyrgios, Fritz Test Their Skills At Georgia Tech

Nick Kyrgios will dribble past you and possibly break your ankles. You have to put a hand in Christopher Eubanks’ face, even if he’s a foot behind the 3-point line. You cannot stop 7’0” Reilly Opelka. Really. You can’t stop him. And don’t underestimate Taylor Fritz’s deep jumper.

The four budding ATP World Tour players took a break from the hard courts at the BB&T Atlanta Open on Sunday evening to try out their skills on the hardwood at Georgia Tech. The quartet headed across the road from the ATP World Tour 250 tournament, held at Atlantic Station, to McCamish Pavilion to play some two-on-two hoops.

They wide-eyed past jerseys of former Georgia Tech stars who became successful NBA players, including Chris Bosh and Jarrett Jack. They practised among the NCAA Tournament banners of former Yellow Jacket teams. The four tennis players also played a little hoops themselves, sweating through their shirts after competing for more than 90 minutes.

“It’s just amazing to come out here… a big arena, playing, just the play the four of us,” Fritz said. “It’s special. You don’t get to do it, ever.”

The four played three two-on-two games, changing teams after every game. Kyrgios crossed up his opponents, making Fritz fall backwards at one point with his dribble-drive penetration. But the 18-year-old American earned revenge the very next point on his fellow #NextGen star when he hit a 3-pointer a foot behind the arc.

“Fritz started off pretty cold but he played well,” said Kyrgios, a Boston Celtics fan who wore a Nike “Basketball Never Stops” T-shirt for the occasion.

The hot hand rotated throughout play. During some stretches, Eubanks couldn’t miss. “This guy’s feeling it out there. He’s shooting like Bradley Beal!” Kyrgios said, comparing Eubanks to the Washington Wizards star.

No one could stop Opelka. Even the 6’7” Eubanks had trouble guarding him. “He’s so big!” Eubanks said.

“I can’t guard him, obviously,” Fritz said after a failed attempt.

Intentionally fouling the 7’0” right-hander also didn’t work. “Hack-a-Shaq,” shouted Kyrgios, with his arms wrapped around Opelka, referring to how some NBA teams used to try to guard former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, who was 7’1”.

“We fouled a lot,” Eubanks said. “It still didn’t work.”

On Monday evening, Eubanks and Opelka will return to a more familiar court to compete, the hard courts at the BB&T Atlanta Open.

Eubanks, who grew up in Atlanta, will make his ATP World Tour debut after qualifying for the 250 event. The 18-year-old Opelka also will be making his Atlanta main draw debut after receiving a wild card.

“It was pretty fun today,” Opelka said. “Me and Eubanks were going at it on the basketball court. Looking forward to [Monday]. We’re pretty good friends. It’s going to be a good one.”

The foursome also were already making plans for more basketball, depending on how their tennis goes, of course.

“It was a lot of fun coming here and just seeing what it was like to get on a court like this,” Kyrgios said. “Hopefully we can continue to play… It was unbelievable.”