American Chris Eubanks’ dream Wimbledon run ended with a five-set quarterfinal loss to No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev.
The Russian Medvedev defeated Eubanks 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 to reach a Friday semifinal against No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
“I did have about 5 or 10 minutes this morning in which I sat back and said, ‘Wow, so many people from all over the world have been supporting me throughout this run,’” Eubanks said. “I woke up realizing I had to play a Grand Slam quarterfinal. I thought that was a really, really cool, cool thing.”
Eubanks, a 27-year-old in his Wimbledon main draw debut, had never made it past the second round of a major before his captivating run, which included wins over No. 12 Cameron Norrie and No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“I definitely believe a lot more in my ability to contend with some of the best players in the world,” he said. “At this point, especially considering the fact I spent five years hovering in that 220 to 150 [ranking] range, playing so many challengers [lower-level tournaments], at this point it’s just the cherry on top.”
Eubanks was ranked No. 119 in the world at the start of April. He broke into the top 100 for the first time after qualifying into the Miami Open and reaching the quarterfinals (where he lost to Medvedev).
He then won a grass-court tournament the week before Wimbledon to get up to No. 43.
Eubanks, who tried and failed to qualify into Wimbledon the last four editions, nearly became the third man to reach the semifinals in his main draw debut in the Open Era after David Nalbandian in 2002 and John McEnroe in 1977.
McEnroe was the last man to make the Wimbledon semifinals having never before reached the third round of any major.
Alcaraz, 20, swept No. 6 seed Holger Rune 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-4 to become the youngest Wimbledon men’s semifinalist since Novak Djokovic in 2007.
The other semifinal pits 23-time major champion Djokovic against No. 8 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy.
What a ride 👏
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 12, 2023
Congratulations on a remarkable run at The Championships 2023, @chris_eubanks96 🙌#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/EnmlRtXIYK
