Christopher Eubanks rested his hands atop his head, appearing to be almost in disbelief, as he walked back to the center of No. 1 Court. Seconds later, he raised them in victory as the crowd stood on its feet and roared in ovation.
He had just beaten the No. 13 player in the world and 2022 semifinalist Cameron Norrie, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3), in the second round at Wimbledon and Eubanks soaked in every second of the occasion.
The bank is open for business 🏦@chris_eubanks96 on Wimbledon debut reaches the third round with a stunning performance against the No.12 seed Cameron Norrie, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) 🙌#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/AMih8z5uEX
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2023
For some players, an early round victory would hardly warrant such a response. But for Eubanks, 27, the achievement is a significant milestone in his career and something he’s spent years trying to achieve. Appearing in the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time, despite four previous qualifying attempts, and playing in the ninth major main draw of his career, Eubanks is now into his first Grand Slam third round.
And it means everything to him.
“[This is] by far the biggest win of my career, by far,” Eubanks said during his on-court interview. “Not even a question. There are tons of really good tennis players who play professional tennis and never get the chance to play the No. 1 Brit at Wimbledon in an atmosphere like this. It didn’t even matter how many people were for me, or against me, this is something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.”
So, still not quite understanding why this win is so important to him? Here’s what you need to know ahead of his third-round match on Saturday:
A monumental 2023
It’s been a long road to the Round of 32 for Eubanks, who played collegiately at Georgia Tech for three seasons before turning pro in 2017. Having spent most of his career playing lower-level events and needing to qualify for most Grand Slam and tour-level tournaments, Eubanks has finally had his long-awaited breakthrough this season. He entered the year at No. 123 before cracking double-digits for the first time after a surprise quarterfinal run in Miami in March. He cried with emotion after the fourth-round match that secured the new ranking.
“Out of everybody in the world that plays tennis at some point, in some week in the world, you were one of the best 100 tennis players in the world,” Eubanks told Tennis Majors at the time. “In the world. Like, there’s a lot of…
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