On Wednesday, July 12, the last quarterfinals in men’s singles were held at the Wimbledon tournament. Their matches were played by tennis players who got into the upper half of the grid. In one of the meetings, the third racket in the world Daniil Medvedev and the American Christopher Eubanks, 27, who occupies the 43rd position in the ATP ranking, met.
Eubanks, along with Roman Safiullin, became the most unexpected participant in the quarterfinals. These two players became the only unseeded players to reach the top eight at this Wimbledon. The American tennis player on her way to the quarterfinals beat two tennis players who had privileges in the draw. In the second round, Christopher defeated Cameron Norrie (12) in four sets, and in the fourth round, in a tough matchup, he broke Stefanos Tsitsipas (5)-3:6, 7:6, 3:6, 6 :4, 6:4.
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In 2023, Eubanks is showing the best tennis of his career. A week and a half ago he won his first ATP title by beating Adrian Mannarino in the final in Mallorca. Thanks to this, Chris reached a record of 43rd place in the world rankings. At the Slams, he had never gone past the second round before, and suddenly he made it to the quarterfinals. “He means the whole world to me. It just means the world to me! All the hard work I’ve put in, all the ups and downs in my career, it’s all led me to this point. This is a testament to all the hard work. Now I want to work much harder to feel it again and again”, said the American after winning the title in Mallorca in an interview with the ATP press service.
And Eubanks did not immediately believe in the victory over Tsitsipas. “I’m going to my dream. It’s crazy, given the whole context… I tried to focus on each individual match, no matter how hackneyed it may sound. I still can’t believe it”, quotes the ATP press service to the American.
Christopher also talked about the role Naomi Osaka and Corey Gauff played in his breakthrough. “The main thing that both of them told me for a long time is that I should be at this level. For a long time I doubted that it would have enough stability. I knew that I could “charm” in individual matches, cause problems for my opponents. I don’t know if he really believed that he could consistently play match after match against top-level opponents. Corey has been telling me this for a long time and Naomi has said the same thing. Strengthening your faith in yourself is the most important thing. When they talk about their confidence, I also start to believe in myself, ”he said at a press conference after reaching the quarterfinals.
Christopher Eubanks playing at Wimbledon 2023
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Medvedev, speaking about the opponent, recalled the match with him at the Miami Masters this year. Then the Russian beat the American in the quarterfinals – 6:3, 7:5. “A very tough opponent. The coach and I say that it shows total tennis. Not afraid of anything, just keep going. He hits very fast, at the first opportunity he goes to the net. He hits hard. I’ve known him for a long time, and this year he was able to find something he hadn’t had before. This is stability in everything.
Christopher is a great player. In Miami he had his first breakthrough, he broke into the top 100, went from qualifying to the quarterfinals. It was his best result at the time. He played very well against me, it was a tough match. He was on fire, I was able to beat him. Here he is on fire again, he just won the ATP title. He reached the quarterfinals here, beating Stefanos in five sets. Incredible. I know that to beat him I need to be at the absolute maximum in terms of tennis, physical and psychological conditions.
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I know that in the quarterfinals I will play against a dangerous rival who is on the rise. I don’t care how he will play in two months, worse or even better. What matters is what happens in two days. I hope it doesn’t all go away. And if he does, I hope I do too. I will try very hard to defeat him,” Daniil said at a press conference.
What did the experts say?
2016 Olympic doubles champion Elena Vesnina suggested Medvedev could be in trouble, though she called Daniil the favourite. “I expect a confident victory from Daniil. On paper, the opponent is not very formidable, but he got in very good shape in this tournament and shows phenomenal tennis. Eubanks beat Tsitsipas in the last match, so he made it to the quarterfinals for a reason. But it all depends on Dani’s game: how he will feel, how he will serve. It is important to have as few unforced errors as possible and as many active points as possible on the first serve.
Eubanks is a pretty gutsy guy and he knows how to play at speed. If Danya plays soft and short, he’s in trouble. If Eubanks reached the quarterfinals, then he’s in the best shape of his life. When an opponent is so inspired, you can’t give them a chance to continue their confident march,” Vesnina said in an interview with Championship.
And two-time TBS mixed doubles champion Andrey Olkhovsky expressed the opinion that Eubanks “should have stopped.” “I hope Eubanks can’t surprise Daniil. Medvedev, of course, is the favorite of the match. He has a good chance of reaching the semifinals. Eubanks played very well with Tsitsipas and also won the Mallorca tournament last week. Yes, he’s on the rise now, but he’s gone far enough. It’s time to stop,” Olkhovsky said in an interview with “Championship”.
Daniil Medvedev plays at Wimbledon 2023
Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
It should be added that both players had a day of rest before the informative confrontation. At the same time, in the round of 16, both Medvedev and Eubanks played on July 10, the Russian made much less effort. He played only two matches with Jiri Lechka (the Czech withdrew due to injury with the score 6: 4, 6: 2 in favor of Daniil), while the American, as already mentioned, had a tense five-set duel with Tsitsipas. . , which lasted for 3 hours and 5 minutes.
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In the presentation match, at first, the classic grass tennis was observed, but already in the third game, Medvedev scored a break point and immediately used it – Eubanks made two double faults in a row at the end. Then the Russian led 2:1 with a break. In the fifth game, Daniil had another break point, but the opponent was able to win it back. In general, Medvedev was in control, taking his games and allowing his opponent to take his. With a score of 5:4, Daniil served for the set and coped with the task without any problems, closing the game with two aces in a row: 6:4.
In general, Medvedev spent this set almost perfectly – 15 actively won points and only one unforced error, and even that in the ninth game! Eubanks had even more winners (19), but also racked up as many as 11 unforced.
But the second set did not play out according to Medvedev’s scenario. In the fourth game, the Russian gave the opponent a triple break point, making a double mistake, then took two draws, but still lost the third – 3: 1 in favor of Eubanks. And in the sixth game, the American again took someone else’s throw, this time from the first break point, and the score became rather unpleasant for the Russian – 5: 1 in favor of Christopher. In the seventh game, Eubanks, serving, won a triple set point, missed it, but after “exactly” took two draws, ending the game with two aces (exactly like Medvedev in the first set!), -6: 1 in just 28 minutes. Daniil of course missed this game. I was struck by Eubanks’ huge lead in Winners: 17 to 6. At the same time, he had even more unforced errors: seven to three.
Daniil Medvedev in quarterfinals with Christopher Eubanks at Wimbledon 2023
Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Having taken the set, Eubanks was inspired and in the first game of the third installment made a break. Unfortunately, Medvedev was never able to return it, as the opponent played the games very confidently on serve. In the eighth game, the Russian also earned a booking after the referee noted that after losing a point he threw the ball aside, hitting the operator with it. Daniel even tried to challenge this decision, but to no avail.
Daniil Medvedev argues with the judge
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
And in the tenth game, Eubanks archived the game and used the first set point – 6:4. Only 32 minutes this set lasted, despite 10 games.
Medvedev started the fourth game well. In the first game, he completed three aces, and in the second he went to break point twice, but missed both opportunities to take the opponent’s serve – 1: 1. So they and Eubanks each took their serve, often delighting the audience with aces; at the same time, in six of his games, the Russian gave his opponent only one point! And the set naturally flowed into a tie-break. In it, Daniil was the first to achieve a mini-break, soon made the score 6: 3, thereby reaching set points, and squeezed his opponent – 7: 4.
At the beginning of the fifth set, Medvedev managed to stun Eubanks – a break to nil in the first game (the American double faulted at break point)! In the third game, the Russian again took the opponent’s serve; he also kept his serve (although in the fourth game he started from 0:30, and then saved two break points), so the score was 4: 0 in favor of Daniil. Then the tennis players took a game on serve (5: 1), and in the seventh game Medvedev won a match point on the reception and immediately used it: 6: 4, 1: 6, 4: 6, 7 : 6 (7:4), 6:1 for three hours. Eubanks committed three double faults in the last game. And throughout the match, he had as many as 55 unforced (Medvedev had 13).
This is how Medvedev reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time in his career. Eubanks, at the end of the tournament, will play 12 places in the ATP ranking and become the 31st racket in the world – this is her personal record. Daniil’s rival in the semifinals will be determined today in the match between Carlos Alcaras (Spain, 1) and Holger Rune (Denmark, 6). In the “lower” semifinals they will meet Yannick Sinner (Italy, 8) and Novak Djokovic (Serbia, 2). Both meetings of the Wimbledon 1/2 finals will take place on Friday, July 14.
Wimbledon 2023 will end on July 16. Follow all the events in the “Championship”.
