Chris Eubanks upsets Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets to advance to Wimbledon quarterfinals

His name is Christopher Eubanks, and he is 6-7, and skinny as Kevin Durant. And there must have been times on Court No. 2 at Wimbledon on Monday when his opponent, Stefanos Tsitsipas, must have felt like he was trying to stop Durant, in another one of those moments when Eubanks was all over him again at the net, or with another first serve.

Now Eubanks takes out Tsitsipas, the No. 5 seed, the way he took out Cam Norrie, No. 12, a few days ago. Now he gets another day at Wimbledon, after having himself a day. So did American men’s tennis, which can always use one of those on the most important theaters of the sport.

Eubanks came from two sets to one down against Tsitsipas, winning the last two sets at 6-4. He was up a break and then down a break in the fifth set after Tsitsipas got back to 3-all. Then Eubanks, who had never done anything on a grass court until he won a smaller tournament in Mallorca the week before Wimbledon, broke back. Finally, there he was with the chance to serve himself into the quarter finals against a former US Open champ named Daniil Medvedev.

And maybe that was fitting. Because by then this outside show court at the All-England Club sounded like the US Open, and like an Open crowd, trying to extend Eubanks’ run there, and his unlikely Wimbledon story, for one more round; telling Eubanks to have himself a day.

He was asked on the court when it was over, by reporters from the BBC and ESPN, what he was thinking in that moment. Eubanks smiled again. But then he had been smiling a lot over the previous few hours, because you would have, too. Georgia Tech guy. Suddenly a one-man, rambling wrecking crew at the most famous tennis tournament in the world.

“Servers serve,” he said.

He had to get past one more break point. He did that. Then served the match out. Servers serve. He had played his way up from the Futures Tour and the Challengers Tour. Before Wimbledon, the biggest win he’d ever had was over another young American, Taylor Fritz. Eubanks is 27, which is not young in professional tennis, and his best ranking was his ranking after Mallorca. Suddenly he was No. 43 in the world. Suddenly, he has this shot at Medvedev at Wimbledon. He is the first American man to make it this far at Wimbledon in his first time in the main draw since Paul Annacone nearly 40 years ago.

And he is the first Black American male player to make it this far at Wimbledon since Mal Washington made it all the way to the final in 1996. So it maybe it was fitting that he did all this on what he did on what would have been the great Arthur Ashe’s 80th birthday, nearly a half-century from when Arthur shocked Jimmy Connors and shocked the world by beating the heavily-favored Connors in a four-set Wimbledon final in 1975.

Eubanks is a charming, thoughtful, graceful presence on the court, and was so much more than a big serve on this day, because you have to be to win a match like this. There was a time in the past, before they dressed up Court No. 2, when it was known as the graveyard court at Wimbledon, a place where so many seeded players had seen their tournament end in upsets. So it was for Tsitsipas, who was coming off a tremendous victory, played out over five sets and two days on Centre Court, against Andy Murray. Tsitsipas was the high seed. He was a guy who had once led Novak Djokovic two sets to none in a French Open final. None of it did him any good on Monday in the Round of 16.

He could not pass Christopher Eubanks enough on this day. In the end, he could not get past him. From the time Eubanks won a second-set tiebreaker so as not to fall behind two sets to one, he made it clear that he was very much up to the circumstances of the occasion. This was his day at Wimbledon, his moment. You still come to tennis for moments like this. I always did.

When Jenny Drummond of the BBC asked Eubanks after the match if he was living his best life, he said, “I’m living a dream.” The crowd at Court No. 2 roared again.

He was a two-time All-America at Georgia Tech. He was twice ACC Player of the Year. But he was never seen as a phenom in men’s tennis. Fritz played himself into the Top 10. So did Frances Tiafoe. Eubanks was still trying to make the show after all this time on the lesser circuits. Again: He is 27 now. The No. 1 player in the world, Carlos Alcaraz, is 20. After watching some of the terrific studio work he has done for The Tennis Channel, you might have thought Eubanks had more of a future in television than American men’s tennis, which hasn’t seen a major champ since Andy Roddick won the US Open exactly 20 years.

Now he gives all American tennis a day like this at Wimbledon, right after Madison Keys, a former US Open finalist, fought back and made the women’s quarters against Mirra Andreeva on Court No. 2; after Keys was making that court sound like the Open as she came from a set and 1-4 down.

Wimbledon still loves second-week stories like Eubanks. All sports love an unlikely, underdog story like this. He did what he did against the No. 3 seed. Did it on what would have been Mr. Ashe’s 80th. Not just a good day for American tennis. A great day. Arthur would have liked Christopher Eubanks a lot.