How Wimbledon debutant Eubanks prevailed over Tsitsipas in five-set thriller?

About a week ago had you asked Chris Eubanks if he was capable of seeing off fifthseed Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach quarterfinals while on his debut at Wimbledon he would politely disagreeldquoI would show up to tour events saying lsquoOh can I get through a couple rounds of herersquordquo he said during an interview the day before play began at the All England Club ldquoNow I genuinely can say probably for the first time Irsquom showing up to tournaments with higher expectations and really wanting to do well and put my best foot forward Irsquom no longer feeling OK just being there I know that I belongrdquo Does he everEubanks a 6foot7 bigserving American making his Wimbledon debut at age 27 right after claiming the first ATP title of his career reached the quarterfinals at a major for the first time by stunning twotime Slam runnerup Stefanos Tsitsipas 36 76 4 36 64 64 in a little over three hours on MondayldquoItrsquos surreal I canrsquot really describe it I just think the entire experience all together has just been a whirlwind Itrsquos been something that you dream about I didnrsquot really know if that dream would actually come true Irsquom sitting here in it now so itrsquos pretty coolrdquo said Eubanks who is from Atlanta and played college tennis at Georgia TechHe is ranked a careerbest 43rd right now and had a winloss record of merely 610 before going on the run to the trophy at Mallorca Spain on July 1 That came on grass which he decided he hated a month ago mdash calling it ldquothe stupidest surfacerdquo in a text he sent to International Tennis Hall of Fame member Kim Clijsters mdash after exiting in the second round at a lowlevel ATP Challenger Tour eventldquoThose words will never come out of my mouth for the rest of my career The grass and I wersquove had a very strenuous I would say relationship over the yearsrdquo Eubanks said after accumulating 53 winners 16 more than Tsitsipas ldquoBut right now I think itrsquos my best friendrdquoAlso Read Novak Djokovic plays Wimbledon with 23 printed on shoes for Grand Slam recordHe is now on a ninematch winning streak after adding the upset of the No 5seeded Tsitsipas to an earlier victory over No 12 Cam Norrie at the All England Club Next comes another challenge meeting No 3 Daniil Medvedev the 2021 US Open champion for a berth in the semifinalsldquoI know I need to be at my 10037 and absolute best physically tenniswise and mentally to try to beat himrdquo said Medvedev who won his only previous meeting against Eubanks at the Miami Masters in March ldquoHe 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 playersrdquoThis is just the ninth Grand Slam tournament for Eubanks who previously never had been past the second round at one of the sportrsquos most prestigious events After questioning his ability to contend for titles Eubanks thought about pursuing television commentary instead and hersquos worked onair for Tennis ChannelBut he sure is having a terrific time with a racket in his hand these daysAnd between matches tooldquoI checked my phone Itrsquos a bit nuts right now Itrsquos crazy to see my social media feed that Irsquom just used to kind of going to and now seeing itrsquos a lot of me Irsquom like lsquoWhat is this This is weirdrsquordquo Eubanks said ldquoBut I think Irsquove been able to find a way to compartmentalize everything realize this is a pretty big moment but also saying lsquoThis is a tennis match that I need to play in a couple daysrsquordquoDuring the latter stages against Tsitsipas Eubanks waved his arms to the crowd to urge it to get louder After smacking a onehanded downtheline backhand winner that finished with the flourish of a flowing followthrough giving him a break for a 43 edge in the fifth set Eubanks held his right index finger to his ear seeking more noiseWhen he showed a bit of nerves while serving for the victory missing a backhand then a volley he managed to settle downldquoAlthough it got a little bit dicey at the endrdquo Eubanks said ldquoI still could have the confidence to say lsquoIrsquom a server I hit serving targets for these moments right here and letrsquos just try to do what I know how to dorsquordquoHe 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 matchEubanks soaked up all of the cheers mdash his supporters included Coco Gauff the American who reached the fourth round in her Wimbledon debut at age 15 in 2019 and was the runnerup at 18 at the French Open last year mdash and then curled his fingers to turn his hands into the shape of a heartWith AP inputs