Christopher Eubanks has already made his mark at Wimbledon with a sensational breakthrough run to the quarter-finals on his debut at the tournament.
The American, who plays Daniil Medvedev for a place in the semi-finals, defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets to claim the biggest victory of his career.
After years of trying, Eubanks only cracked the world’s top 100 earlier this year when he came through qualifying to reach the quarter-finals of the Miami Open - where he lost to Medvedev.
Coming into Wimbledon, Eubanks unexpectedly found form on grass and won his first ATP Tour title in Mallorca before arriving at SW19.
Eubanks then claimed wins over British No 1 Cameron Norrie and fifth seed Tsitsipas to reach the quarter-finals, which also earned him a place in Wimbledon’s exclusive ‘Last 8 Club’.
What is Wimbledon’s Last 8 Club?
Any player who reaches the quarter-finals, or last eight, of the men’s or women’s gets to join the Wimbledon ‘Last 8 Club’.
For Eubanks, this comes with significant perks, including free tickets to the Championships and access to hospitality suits at the All England Club once his playing days are over.
Eubanks had no expectations after arriving at Wimbledon - he had only won two matches in the grand slams in the previous five years - but is “living the dream” as he takes centre stage at the Championships.
Christopher Eubanks— (Getty Images)
“Dream come true,” he said after beating Tsitsipas. “It’s tough to really put into words, but to be able to come out today and play the way that I did, just kind of take everything in, it’s surreal. I can’t really describe it.
“Everything from realising that I have two credentials at Wimbledon for the rest of my life, 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. There’s so many different ways I could go about it.
“I just think the entire experience all together has just been a whirlwind. 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.”
The 27-year-old who was ranked outside of the world’s top 200 as recently as two years ago, credited Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka for giving him the belief to make his mark at the grand slams.
“They’ve been saying for a long time that they feel like I belong at this level. For a long time I questioned, again, whether or not I was consistent enough to play at this level really consistently.
“I knew I could come out on any match and maybe light it up, could cause some guys some trouble. I don’t know if I really believed I could put it together match after match after match against quality opponents.
“That’s something Coco has been telling me for a long time. Naomi even says the same thing. That’s kind of been the main thing of just reinforcing and instilling confidence. Hey, you can play at this level, you just got to believe it. When I’m around them, to hear them talk about their belief, it’s a bit infectious. It does rub off on you.
“When they talk about their goals or what they feel when they go on court, I feel a little bit like the odd man out because I’m like, You guys are mentally different than I am. You guys are so much more, like, locked in and confident when you step on the court.
“I think it’s slowly starting to rub off on me where when I step foot on the court, Hey, I can play at this level, I belong at this level. I just have to go out there and actually believe it. Be okay with giving it everything I have.”
