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Supporters of American men’s tennis, meet your latest Grand Slam hope: Christopher Eubanks.
The unheralded 27-year-old Atlanta native shocked No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on Monday in five gripping sets — 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 — to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and alter the trajectory of his career.
“I feel like I’m living a dream right now,” Eubanks in his postmatch, on-court interview. “This is absolutely insane.”
Standing at 6-foot-7 and armed with a booming serve, Eubanks is making his Wimbledon main draw debut and just his ninth career appearance in a major.
His previous best results in a major came when he reached the second round of last year’s U.S. Open and this year’s Australian Open.
Now, for reaching the final eight at Wimbledon, he’s guaranteed at least $430,000 in prize money.
He had previously made $1.8 million in singles and doubles combined in his entire career.
He will face No. 3 Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals.
“Now I genuinely can say, probably for the first time, I’m showing up to tournaments with higher expectations and really wanting to do well and put my best foot forward,” Eubanks told reporters. “I’m no longer feeling OK just being there. I know that I belong.”
His breakthrough followed losses earlier at Wimbledon by the usual would-be American contenders: Taylor Fritz lost in Round 2, and Frances Tiafoe fell in Round 3.
Less pre-tournament attention was on Eubanks, who rose to a career-best ranking of No. 43 when he won a grass-court tournament in Mallorca, Spain, in the run-up to Wimbledon for his first ATP Tour title.
At the All-England Club, he dispatched Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro in the first round, upset No. 12 Cam Norrie of Great Britain in the second round and blew past Australia’s Christopher O’Connell in the third round to set up the fourth-round clash with Tsitsipas.
Eubanks hit 53 winners, including 13 aces, to 37 winners for Tsitsipas in the three-hour, four-minute slugfest.
“Although it got a little bit dicey at the end,” Eubanks said, “I still could have the confidence to say: ‘I’m a server. I hit serving targets for these moments right here, and let’s just try to do what I know how to do.’”
It was the first top-10 victory of Eubanks’ career.
It came with American women’s tennis starlet Coco Gauff watching from his player’s box.
Eubanks was a two-time NCAA All-American at Georgia Tech. He also has dabbled in television commentary as his journeyman playing days have progressed.
Now thoughts of a second career can wait: He’s three more shocking wins from a Wimbledon crown.
On the women’s side, two Americans have reached the quarterfinals.
No. 25 Madison Keys beat Russia’s Mirra Andreeva 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Monday and will face second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka.
“Coming out here, you know that [Andreeva is] a really great player. But you don’t want to be the player that loses to her for her to get to her first quarter,” Keys, trying to make her first Wimbledon semifinal, said on court. “I’ve fallen short a few times and it’s great to be back in the quarterfinals here at Wimbledon.”
A day earlier, fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula reached the quarterfinals and will face unseeded Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
— with AP
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