By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, July 10, 2023
Christopher Eubanks stopped Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 advancing to his maiden major quarterfinal at Wimbledon—and date with Daniil Medvedev.
Photo credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty
Wimbledon—Masterpiece moments seldom spawn successful sequels.
Unless you're Christopher Eubanks, who continues elevating to rare air every round in this breakout Wimbledon run.
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An explosive Eubanks edged Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 scoring his first career Top 5 victory and advancing to his maiden major quarterfinal at Wimbledon—and date with Daniil Medvedev.
A dynamic victory vaults Eubanks, who has played only 15 grass-court matches in his life, to a new career-high ranking of No. 31 in the ATP Live Rankings. The man nicknamed "Big Banks" has earned the biggest payday of his career already earning about $436,000 for this quarterfinal result.
Contesting his maiden Wimbledon, Eubanks, who concedes he didn't love lawn tennis as recently as last month, continues to be a seed slayer.
Last Friday, an inspired Eubanks toppled British No. 1 and 2022 semifinalist Cameron Norrie 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) in a masterful performance to charge into the Wimbledon third round for the first time.
The Wimbledon debutant who arrived at SW19 with an ignominious 2-8 career Grand Slam record rose to the challenge again today against Tsitsipas scoring his biggest career win, by ranking, before a packed No. 2 court that included friend Coco Gauff and her parents rooting for him.
Serving for the biggest win of his career, Eubanks saved a break point with a fierce forehand winner.
Slashing an ace down the middle brought Eubanks to match point. Eubanks blistered one final forehand winner than stood on the service line and stretched his arms out as if embracing the moment and euphoria of a three hour, four-minute triumph.
“I feel like I'm living the dream,” Eubanks said posting his career-best ninth straight grass-court triumph. "This is absolutely insane."
On the strength of his snarling serve, twisting topspin forehand and all-court aggression, Eubanks essentially beat two-time major finalist Tsitsipas at his own game.
Eubanks impressed himself by beating a Top 5 opponent on a day in which he felt his best tennis sometimes eluded him.
The former two-time all-American at Georgia Tech has not lost a match since bowing to Hubert Hurkacz in Halle last month.
"I thought I played well when I needed to. I didn't feel like I served as well as I had in previous rounds," Eubanks said. "I think I was middle to late second set, I saw the stats come up. I only had one ace.
"I'm like, Man, it's been a bit of a dry spell for me. Usually, I'm able to produce a little bit more on the serve. The conditions were a bit tough when we got out there. The wind was kind of swirling. It was tough to really get comfortable. Like I say, in tennis, you just got to play the big points, play certain points better than others. I think I was able to play well when I needed to in order to get the win.
To me that's an even more promising sign. To say I canIt's a remarkable run for the 6'7" Atlanta native who confessed he was venting about grass-court inadequacy following his straight-sets Surbiton Challenger loss to 134th-ranked Jurij Rodionov last month.
What a difference a month—and confidence—has made in Eubanks' career.
Weeks after a gritty Eubanks fought off five match points out-dueling Lloyd Harris 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(9) in the Mallorca semifinals before sweeping Adrian Mannarino to capture his maiden ATP title at the Mallorca Championships, he continues to compete with the conviction of a man, who believes he belongs on major stages against elite players.
Today, Eubanks played more assertive tennis than the Australian Open finalist when it mattered most.
Eubanks won 46 of 72 trips to net, more than doubling Tsitisipas in net points won. Eubanks hammered 51 winners overall and applied his all-court skills shrewdly.
This victory vaults Eubanks into a rematch with 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in a clash of Tecnifibre players.
The American qualifier showed a high ceiling in his 6-3, 7-5 Miami Open quarterfinal loss to Medvedev last March.
It was his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal and Eubanks gained something even greater than ranking points: The self-belief that he belongs on these stages facing the best.
"[It] is that I can compete with some of the best players in the world, and I know that now," Eubanks said of his quarterfinal performance in Miami. "Whereas before, we can go and practice all day and practice with, you know, Frances [Tiafoe], I have practiced with Daniil back in 2019 in Australia, I practiced with some really good guys, but it's always different when you're rolling the balls out in an actual match.
"I think now the belief for me is stronger, because I have seen it, I know that I can do it, and I think that's probably the biggest difference is now when I'm going into matches I think from here on out, I'll have an expectation of a higher level, a higher expectation of myself and what I want to see from myself and maybe just even higher confidence."
Matching those great expectations with major elevation makes Eubanks, who leads this tournament in aces (85), a dangerous contender. Eubanks has hit 247 winners on route to the quarterfinals, which is the second most in the Open Era for most winners during the first four rounds after Wayne Ferreira who hit 255 winners through the first four rounds in 1992.
Medvedev knows Eubanks will mix it up and plans to be ready.
"He definitely has a different game to other players," Medvedev said of Eubanks. "Relies a lot on his serve, and serves great. Is not afraid to go to the net maybe even after let's say many people of my generation, we tend to go to the net after a good shot to try to finish the point. He is not scared to make a bad shot and still to go to the net and try to finish the point there.
"Definitely a little bit different from other players. Also one-handed backhand. Close to the line. Going to be interesting. I will try to deal with what he can produce at my best."