{"id":315161,"date":"2023-07-10T21:23:21","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T21:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=315161"},"modified":"2023-07-10T22:58:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T22:58:54","slug":"battler-stuns-tsitsipas-in-shock-wimbledon-upset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=315161","title":{"rendered":"Battler stuns Tsitsipas in shock Wimbledon upset"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until about a week ago, even Chris Eubanks did not really believe he was capable of this sort of thing \u2014 of beating the world's best tennis players at Wimbledon<\/a>, of reaching the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament, of winning match after match after match on grass courts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would show up to tour events saying, \u2018Oh, can I get through a couple rounds of here?\u2019\u201d he said during an interview the day before play began at the All England Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I genuinely can say, probably for the first time, I\u2019m showing up to tournaments with higher expectations and really wanting to do well and put my best foot forward. I'm no longer feeling OK just being there. I know that I belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Does he ever.<\/p>\n

Eubanks, a six-foot-seven, big-serving American making his Wimbledon<\/a> 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 two-time Slam runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/a> 3-6, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a little over three hours on Monday.<\/p>\n

\"Christopher<\/p>\n

\u201cIt's surreal. I can\u2019t really describe it,\u201d said Eubanks, who is from Atlanta and played college tennis at Georgia Tech.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think the entire experience, all together, has just been a whirlwind. It\u2019s been something that you dream about,\u201d Eubanks said.<\/p>\n

Watch Wimbledon 2023 live and free on<\/strong><\/em> 9now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Alternatively, you can stream every match live, ad-free and on demand on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, with centre court in 4K UHD.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

"I didn\u2019t really know if that dream would actually come true. I\u2019m sitting here in it now, so it\u2019s pretty cool.\u201c<\/p>\n

He is ranked a career-best 43rd right now and had a win-loss record of merely 6-10 before going on the run to the trophy at Mallorca, Spain, on July 1.<\/p>\n

\"Stefanos<\/p>\n

That came on grass, which he decided he hated a month ago \u2014 calling it \u201cthe stupidest surface\u201d in a text he sent to International Tennis Hall of Fame member Kim Clijsters \u2014 after exiting in the second round at a low-level ATP Challenger Tour event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose words will never come out of my mouth for the rest of my career. The grass and I, we\u2019ve had a very strenuous, I would say, relationship over the years,\u201d Eubanks said after accumulating 53 winners, 16 more than Tsitsipas. \u201cBut right now, I think it\u2019s my best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is now on a nine-match winning streak after adding the upset of the No. 5-seeded Tsitsipas to an earlier victory over No. 12 Cam Norrie at the All England Club.<\/p>\n

Next comes another challenge, meeting No. 3 Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, for a berth in the semifinals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I need to be at my 100 percent and absolute best physically, tennis-wise, and mentally to try to beat him,\u201d said Medvedev, who won his only previous meeting against Eubanks, at the Miami Masters in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe 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 players.\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/Wimbledon\/status\/1678429251073110019<\/a><\/p>\n

This is just the ninth Grand Slam tournament for Eubanks, who previously never had been past the second round at one of the sport\u2019s most prestigious events.<\/p>\n

After questioning his ability to contend for titles, Eubanks thought about pursuing television commentary instead, and he's worked on-air for Tennis Channel.<\/p>\n

But he sure is having a terrific time with a racquet in his hand these days. And between matches, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI checked my phone. It\u2019s a bit nuts right now. It\u2019s crazy to see my social media feed that I\u2019m just used to kind of going to (and now) seeing it\u2019s a lot of me. I\u2019m like, \u2018What is this? This is weird,\u2019\u201d Eubanks said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think I\u2019ve been able to find a way to compartmentalize everything, realize this is a pretty big moment, but also saying, \u2018This is a tennis match that I need to play in a couple days.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/chris_eubanks96\/status\/1675233299269124097<\/a><\/p>\n

During the latter stages against Tsitsipas, Eubanks waved his arms to the crowd to urge it to get louder.<\/p>\n

After smacking a one-handed down-the-line backhand winner that finished with the flourish of a flowing follow-through, giving him a break for a 4-3 edge in the fifth set, Eubanks held his right index finger to his ear, seeking more noise.<\/p>\n

When he showed a bit of nerves while serving for the victory, missing a backhand, then a volley, he managed to settle down.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough it got a little bit dicey at the end," Eubanks said, "I still could have the confidence to say: \u2018I\u2019m a server. I hit serving targets for these moments right here, and let\u2019s just try to do what I know how to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He 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 match.<\/p>\n

Eubanks soaked up all of the cheers \u2014 his supporters included Coco Gauff, the American who reached the fourth round in her Wimbledon debut at age 15 in 2019 and was the runner-up at 18 at the French Open last year \u2014 and then curled his fingers to turn his hands into the shape of a heart.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Until about a week ago, even Chris Eubanks did not really believe he was capable of this sort of thing \u2014 of beating the world's […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":315164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315161"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=315161"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315170,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315161\/revisions\/315170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/315164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=315161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=315161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=315161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}