Young Guns at the 2017 BB&T Atlanta Open

Summary

Lisa Stone covers the 2017 BB&T Atlanta Open — a 250-level ATP Tour event at Atlantic Station in midtown Atlanta, the kickoff of the US Open Series — with interviews from two young players receiving wild cards: Chris Eubanks, a rising senior at Georgia Tech with an ATP doubles run in prior years, and Trent Bryde, a top-10 junior in the world who has played all four junior Grand Slams and is on track for professional tennis. A brief interview with Trent’s father Bruce Bryde rounds out the episode with a practical parenting framework for families navigating three children on entirely different athletic and creative trajectories (Carly Bryde played collegiate tennis at Furman; Kyle Bryde chose theater; Trent chose professional junior tennis). The episode documents both the college-to-pro and junior-to-pro pathways in direct juxtaposition.

Guest Background

Chris Eubanks was a rising senior at Georgia Tech at the time of recording, having received a wild card into the 2017 BB&T Atlanta Open singles draw. In prior years he had made qualifying and had a strong doubles run with a partner at the same tournament. He describes the tournament as giving him confidence that propelled his subsequent college season. Eubanks went on to win the Georgia Tech program multiple conference honors and would eventually turn professional, reaching the ATP singles top-30.

Trent Bryde was an active top-10 junior in the world at the time of recording, coached by Viv Chetri (a previous ParentingAces guest). He had played all four Junior Grand Slams — the French Open was his most recent, the last of the four he needed to complete — and was receiving a wild card into the BB&T qualifying draw. He traveled approximately half of every month internationally as a full-time touring junior.

Bruce Bryde is Trent’s father, who also taught Trent at a young age before stepping aside to let professional coaches take over. He describes three children with entirely different athletic trajectories as one of the most instructive parenting experiences in the sport.

Key Findings

1. Chris Eubanks — College Tennis as Professional Incubator

Eubanks describes the BB&T and Georgia Tech as existing in a mutual feedback loop: playing the BB&T wild card the prior year gave him the confidence that propelled a strong college season; that college season in turn prepared him to return to the BB&T the following year with more professional experience and greater composure. “It’s kind of a give and take — BB&T helped prepare me for Tech, and then Tech was preparing me back for BB&T.” He specifically credits college tennis with teaching time management skills, professional mindset, and the ability to “go about things the right way” — non-tennis skills that he argues are as important to professional readiness as court performance.

2. Playing Against Professionals in Doubles Gave Eubanks a Benchmark

Eubanks describes his doubles experience at a prior BB&T — competing against Nick Monroe, Austin Krajicek, and Michael Venus (who had just won the French Open) — as a calibration moment that recalibrated his sense of what was achievable. “After the first round, to see ‘man, we actually did it’ — and then to come out and do it again was just another load of reinforcement.” He frames the experience as evidence-based confidence rather than abstract belief: he knew he could compete with established professionals because he had done it, not because someone told him he could.

3. Trent Bryde — Resilience and Off-Court Mentorship as Pro Prerequisites

Trent Bryde’s advice to aspiring junior players: “Stick to it and keep working hard, and definitely ask questions. I went through a lot, being able to get to where I am — being a top-10 junior. It takes a lot: handling adversity, resilience. Not just the tennis — so much off-court that you just have to handle, being out of the country in bad places.” He explicitly frames resilience and off-court adaptability as prerequisites for junior tour life, distinct from and arguably more important than tennis skill. He also cites Chris Eubanks as a mentor resource — calling on him for advice about navigating the college-vs-pro decision, an older peer who has been through adjacent decisions.

4. Coach Viv Chetri as Best Friend — The Ideal Player-Coach Relationship

Trent Bryde describes his relationship with coach Viv Chetri as transcending the coach-student dynamic: “He’s truly one of my best friends. It’s not just coaching and student — off the court, we’re like best friends. We’re always having fun at the tournaments. We’re not just always doing coaching stuff.” He credits Chetri with forcing him to experience tournament cities culturally (Milan Cathedral, local culture stops) rather than retreating to the hotel between matches — experiences he initially resists but consistently values in retrospect. He argues this full-life relationship with his coach is specifically special and contributes to his competitive resilience.

5. Bruce Bryde’s Parenting Framework: Three Children, Three Trajectories

Bruce Bryde’s parenting experience across three children is the episode’s most practically transferable insight. Daughter Carly played junior tennis, went the college route at Furman, and graduated to a non-tennis career. Son Kyle started tennis, found it wasn’t his passion, and chose theater at North Georgia. Son Trent loved tennis since age three and is on the global junior tour. Bruce’s framework: “Follow what you want to do, what your passion is. Don’t push them — let them push themselves. Give them the opportunities, sign them up for lessons and tournaments, and let them have it in their heart.” He explicitly describes having given all three equal opportunities and accepting their different choices without pressure.

6. The BB&T’s Venue Model as the Gold Standard for Athlete Experience

Lisa Stone describes what players consistently say about the BB&T: the Atlantic Station venue — where the player hotel is within golf cart distance of the practice courts and match courts, surrounded by restaurants, shopping, and entertainment — produces an unusually positive player experience. The proximity of accommodation to competition eliminates transportation logistics, and the retail/entertainment ecosystem means players with families have activities during recovery time. Eubanks describes the practical benefits: time management, ability to focus, reduced logistical burden. This logistical model — compact tournament footprint with lifestyle infrastructure adjacent — is consistently mentioned as what makes athletes feel valued and comfortable at the event.

7. College Tennis Develops Team Character that Prepares for Life

Bruce Bryde summarizes Carly’s college tennis experience at Furman in terms that capture the team-tennis developmental value: “Playing collegiate tennis helps you to not just be yourself on the court — you’re part of a team. You’re not playing for yourself, you’re playing for a team. So that team spirit is just as intense as any other tournament you’ll go to. They learn to support each other. They share their disappointments together, but they also share their success together. And moving forward, the things she’s learned from being on the tennis team in college will help her in her profession.” This frames college team tennis not as a pro development route but as a life development route — relevant for the majority of players who will not turn professional.

Actionable Advice for Families

• Build peer mentorship networks for junior players who are navigating the college vs. professional pathway decision — Trent Bryde’s relationship with Eubanks demonstrates that slightly-older peers who have navigated adjacent decisions are often more valuable advisors than parents or coaches who are further from the decision
• For junior players attending pro events in their region, prioritize building relationships with players and coaches in the practice sessions and qualifying rounds — the competitive exposure plus relationship-building is a more valuable use of tournament proximity than spectating alone
• Evaluate college tennis programs not only on competitive ranking but on team culture — Bruce Bryde’s description of Furman producing life skills (team spirit, shared experience of success and failure) captures what college tennis does that junior tournament tennis cannot
• When a child has a clear passion (tennis, theater, whatever), trust the signal and invest in it rather than hedging — Bruce Bryde’s experience of three children choosing three radically different paths and thriving in each validates passion-led development

INTENNSE Relevance

• College-to-pro bridge: Eubanks’ give-and-take loop — BB&T confidence → stronger college season → BB&T return — is the exact pathway INTENNSE is designed to extend; the league creates a professional environment for college-level players to test themselves and calibrate their readiness for full professional competition
• Atlanta as tennis city: The BB&T Atlanta Open’s existence as an ATP 250 event at Atlantic Station documents that Atlanta is already a professional tennis city with pro-level infrastructure, player experience benchmarks, and fan awareness; INTENNSE’s Atlanta-based identity builds on an existing foundation
• Compact venue model: The Atlantic Station model — hotel, practice courts, competition courts, lifestyle infrastructure all within golf cart range — is a blueprint for INTENNSE venue design; player experience quality is directly correlated with logistical simplicity and lifestyle adjacency
• Peer mentorship as pipeline: Trent Bryde consulting Chris Eubanks on the college vs. pro decision represents a mentorship ecosystem that INTENNSE can institutionalize — the league’s players can serve as mentors to junior players navigating the same decisions, creating a developmental community that extends beyond the league’s rosters
• Team tennis as character formation: Bruce Bryde’s framing of Furman team tennis as producing life skills that outlast competitive careers is the philosophical argument for INTENNSE’s team format — not just more entertaining tennis, but a different kind of tennis that develops different and arguably more durable human qualities
• Broadcast from Atlanta: The BB&T’s media day format — credentialed journalist access to players in informal, pre-tournament settings — is a broadcast model INTENNSE should adopt for its own events; the Eubanks and Bryde interviews demonstrate how pre-match player conversations produce content that’s more revealing than post-match press conferences

Notable Quotes

“It’s kind of a give and take — BB&T helped prepare me for Tech, and then Tech was preparing me back for BB&T.”

“After the first round, to see ‘man, we actually did it’ — that was another load of reinforcement that if I continue to progress, I can do some pretty incredible things.”

“It takes a lot: handling adversity, resilience. Not just the tennis — so much off-court that you just have to handle.”

“Viv is truly one of my best friends. It’s not just coaching and student — off the court, we’re like best friends.”

“Don’t push them — let them push themselves. Give them the opportunities and let them have it in their heart.”

“Playing collegiate tennis helps you to not just be yourself on the court — you’re part of a team. And that’s just as intense as any other tournament you’ll go to.”