SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
It wasn’t a quarterfinals day for the United States Wednesday at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, but 27-year-old surprising Christopher Eubanks of Atlanta made a game effort in making that round for the first time in men’s singles.
After women’s No. 25 Madison Keys of Florida went down in straight sets to No. 2 Aryna Salalenka of Belarius, 6-2, 6-4, it left the Americans with only 38th-ranked Eubanks in the field as the 6-foot-7 rising Black gained that level for the first time after he stunned No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Poland in a magical five sets Tuesday.
This time he wasn’t as fortunate, but still gave the crowd its cheering worth at the No. 1 grass court at the All-England Club before losing to No. 3 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1.
He had the bulk of the huge crowd in his court and he took advantage of it with his overall play. He pushed Medvedev to a rousing finish in his first-ever Grand Slam quarters.
“When I first came out for the warmups,” said the former Georgia Tech player,” it was like so weird. I looked at it. I was like going to play a Grand Slam quarterfinal today. This is cool.”
He took less than 10 minutes before it began to set in and he went about mixing up his energy, patience, line shots, serves and return of services, but it just wasn’t enough.
He was down two sets to one when he came away with a 7-4 tiebreaker on back-to-back aces and a fierce forehand down the line, but in the deciding fifth set, it was Medvedev in charge. He went up 3-0, then at 3-1, won the next three games and came to the net with a hug for Eubanks as the throng applauded the exciting match.
Unseeded Eubanks was backed by the crowd in the stands as he came within four points of winning to extend his deepest run by far in a major tournament.
“I thought I did a good job against a very good player,” he later said. “I had the crowd, the shots, and the confidence, but just fell short.”
The lanky Eubanks had the most winners, 74-52, but Medvedev the most aces, 28-17. The winners total raised Eubanks’ tournament total to 321 to break Andre Agassi’s 1992 mark for the most in a single Wimbledon since 1977.
When the match ended and Eubanks’ wonderful ride was over, he was sent off toward the locker room by a loud and lengthy standing ovation. He paused his walk, turned to all sections of the arena to wave, and then put his hands together overhead in the shape of a heart soaking it all in.
His friend, women’s player Coco Gauff, captured the scene with her phone camera. She was the 2022 French Open runner-up.
In the other quarters, No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain got past No. 6 Holger Rune of Denmark, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-4, in a closely played match on center court despite the final score. Each set went to tight finishes. The 20-year-old Alvaraz now faces Medvedev in the Friday semifinals.
In the other women’s quarterfinals, No. 6 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, ousted defending champion, No. 3 Elena Rybackina of Kazakhstan, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1.
