Unless you’re a die hard tennis fan, you probably didn’t know Christopher Eubanks’ name before the 2023 Wimbledon Championships started. Now, he’s set to make his first ever Grand Slam Quarterfinal appearance and will probably hit a career-high ranking when the tournament is over. On Monday, he defeated No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a thrilling, come-from behind five set victory. It was the first time he’d ever beaten a top five ranked player. After the match, when on-court interviewer Jenny Drummond listed off all the career highlights he’s been experiencing lately he replied, “I feel like I’m living a dream right now.”
It wasn’t that long ago that Eubanks mainly played in Futures and Challengers tournaments, which are akin to being in the minor leagues. However, he’s had a successful 2023 season, seeing his ranking rise, which has allowed him to play in more ATP level events. He won his first ATP title at the Wimbledon warm up in Mallorca, Spain. Even as his confidence grew, he wasn’t expecting this kind of run at Wimbledon. According to ESPN, he’s extended his hotel reservation three times during the tournament.
“Everything from realizing that I have two credentials at Wimbledon for the rest of my life [as part of Wimbledon’s ‘Last 8 Club’], to checking my phone and seeing my name as an ESPN alert, to realizing how much I disliked grass at the beginning of the grass-court season, to now look at where I am,” he said during his post-match press conference on Monday. “It’s been something that you dream about. But I think for me I didn’t really know if that dream would actually come true. I’m sitting here in it now, so it’s pretty cool.”
In the Quarterfinals, Eubanks will face his toughest challenge in No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev. Win or lose, he’s projected to be ranked inside the top 35, which sets him up to be seeded at many of the upcoming hard court events in North America and possibly the US Open. As the last remaining American man, he’s receiving a lot of extra attention, but he’s staying focused on tennis and the next match.
“I’ve done a pretty good job in the past…of being able to just kind of separate everything and look at the next match and not really considering the moment, the round or the stage of the tournament. Just realizing that this is an opponent I have to play,” he said. “It’s gonna be a little bit more difficult now. It’s a bit nuts right now. I’ve been able to find a way to compartmentalize everything, realizing this is a pretty big moment, but then also saying, ‘Hey, there’s a tennis match that I need to play in a couple days.’ I’m not too worried about it. At this stage of my career, I do a better job of looking at each match. It’s just a tennis match, not considering the moment as much as I used to earlier in my career.”
Christopher Eubanks faces off against Daniil Medvedev in the Quarterfinals of The Championships at Wimbledon on Wednesday morning around 9:15 a.m. ET/6:15 a.m. PT on the ESPN Networks.