Christopher Eubanks, a 27-year-old American playing in his maiden Wimbledon tournament, defeated two-time major runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time at a Grand Slam competition.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, was temporarily knocked off course by big-serving Hubert Hurkacz but quickly got back in the groove on Monday to reach the quarterfinals.
Having edged two tiebreaks late on Sunday before being beaten by the tournament’s strict 11 p.m. curfew, Djokovic returned to lose his first set of the tournament before sealing a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4 victory.
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The 43rd-ranked Eubanks, who is from Atlanta and played college tennis at Georgia Tech, is on quite a roll right now on grass courts, a surface he said he hated just a month ago. But he won his first career ATP title at a tuneup event in Mallorca, Spain, the week before Wimbledon and now added his upset of the No. 5-seeded Tsitsipas to an earlier victory over No. 12 Cameron Norrie at the All England Club.
“I feel like I’m living a dream right now. This is absolutely insane, when you paint all of the context. I’ve tried so much to block everything out and just focus on the next match — as cliché as it sounds — but … it’s surreal,” Eubanks told the crowd during an on-court interview. “It’s unbelievable. I can’t believe this.”
Eubanks will carry a nine-match winning streak into his contest against No. 3 Daniil Medvedev for a berth in the semifinals. Medvedev, of Russia, reached the quarterfinals for the first time when his fourth-round opponent, Jiri Lehecka, retired injured after losing the first two sets 6-4, 6-2. Lehecka, 21, who had played a four-hour five-set match against Tommy Paul in the last round, took a timeout after the first set while a trainer treated blisters on his right foot.
“I know I need to be at my 100% and absolute best physically, tennis-wise, and mentally to try to beat him,” said Medvedev, who won his only previous meeting against Eubanks, at the Miami Masters in March. “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 on Monday, Holger Rune‘s stature in world tennis continued to grow as he stayed calm and collected in the face of adversity to ride out a 3-6, 7-6 (6). 7-6 (4), 6-3 fourth round win over Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.
The Danish sixth seed missed out on converting any of the six break points he earned in the opening set, and then found himself a set and 4-2 down after surrendering his own serve with two successive double faults. Through all that mental turmoil, he never lost belief and the 20-year-old came storming back with some phenomenal shot making as he became the first Dane in 65 years to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
He will next face top seed Carlos Alcaraz, who roared into the quarterfinals with a formidable display of firepower to down big-serving Italian dark horse Matteo Berrettini on Monday.
The Spaniard was beaten to the punch in the opening set but raised his game to claim a comfortable 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win to the delight of the Centre Court crowd.
This is just the ninth Grand Slam tournament for Eubanks, who previously never had been past the second round at one of the sport’s most prestigious events. After questioning his ability to contend for titles, Eubanks thought about pursuing television commentary instead, and he’s worked on-air for Tennis Channel.
“I checked my phone. It’s a bit nuts right now. It’s crazy to see my social media feed that I’m just used to kind of going to [and now] seeing it’s a lot of me. I’m like, ‘What is this? This is weird,'” Eubanks said. “But I think I’ve been able to find a way to compartmentalize everything, realize this is a pretty big moment, but also saying, ‘This is a tennis match that I need to play in a couple days.'”
He closed it out with a 127-mph ace followed by a forehand winner and, after shaking hands with Tsitsipas, stood at the center of the court with his thumbs up, his arms spread wide and a smile to match.
Coco Gauff, an American who made her Wimbledon debut at age 15 in 2019 and finished in second place at the French Open at age 18, was among those who cheered for Eubanks. Eubanks then curled his fingers to form the shape of a heart with his hands.
The 36-year-old Djokovic wasn't at his best as the Polishman Hurkacz momentarily hinted at a comeback. However, the 23-time Grand Slam men's winner set a record for finding a solution.
He will take on the seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia on Wednesday, tying Jimmy Connors for the second-most Wimbledon quarterfinal appearances. Djokovic has impressively advanced to 56 Grand Slam quarterfinals, which is second only to Roger Federer.
Djokovic struggled to maintain his customary rhythm on Centre Court due to the wind, and he dropped serve for the first time all match to concede the third set. In their matchup with the 17th seed, who stopped Federer's Wimbledon run two years ago, the second seed first appeared uneasy.
But Djokovic, of Serbia, pounced to finally the break the Hurkacz serve for the first time at 3-3 in the fourth — having seen seven previous break points snatched away. From then on it was straightforward as Djokovic quickly wrapped things up in clinical fashion.
“He put up a great performance,” a relieved Djokovic said on court after keeping his bid for a fifth successive Wimbledon title and eighth in all.
“Honestly, I don’t recall the last time I felt this miserable on returning games to be honest, because of his incredibly accurate and powerful serve. I mean he’s got one of the best serves in the world and it’s so difficult to read it.”
The Grand Slam competition that Medvedev has had the least success at is Wimbledon. Four finals have been reached by the former world No. 1, who won the US Open in 2021.
Due to the ban on Russian competitors imposed as a result of the nation's invasion of Ukraine, he did not participate at Wimbledon last year.
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