Chris Eubanks knocks out fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in five set THRILLER at Wimbledon

Chris Eubanks continued his remarkable run at Wimbledon with a thrilling five-set win over fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach a first Grand Slam singles quarter final. 

The 27-year-old, the son of a Baptist minister from Atlanta, has now taken out British No 1 Cam Norrie and Tsitsipas en route to the last eight at SW18.

Eubanks, currently ranked No 43 in the world, has never previously been beyond the second round of a major but he will now face third seed Daniil Medvedev after overcoming Tsitsipas 3-6 7-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 on No 2 Court.

A late bloomer, 27-year-old Eubanks is another product of the college tennis scene in the States and is arguably now punching above his weight after years of toiling around world No 150 to 200.

Speaking over the weekend, before this win, he said the tournament ‘feels like an icebreaker.’ 

He explained: ‘I grew up playing tennis in Atlanta, Georgia. I had an older brother that played tennis and my dad was involved with my brother when I came along.

‘When I got to the age where I could run and swing a racket, my dad put one in my hand. It just kind of went from there doing the normal route of playing local tournaments and junior tournaments and just trying to work my way up.’

At 6ft 7in, the mountainous Eubanks is one of the stories of this year’s Championships

Eubanks, a deeply religious man, is the son of a Baptist minister who studied industrial engineering alongside playing college tennis.

‘My grandfather, my mom’s father, started what’s now a fairly prominent Baptist church in Memphis,’ adds Eubanks, who took up some broadcasting for the Tennis Channel at times he thought he might not make it big.

‘The funny thing about being a preacher’s kid is when you’re playing tournaments on Saturdays and Sundays, you miss a lot of Sunday services!

‘I think it’s more so just about instilling faith at a young age is pretty important, especially to my parents, and I think faith can mean different things to different people.

Tsitsipas, the No 5 seed, was beaten 3-6 7-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 in just over three hours on No 2 Cout

‘For me, one of the main things of having faith is just simply taking it into every walk of life, which could be also my tennis. It’s just trusting that if I keep doing what I’m supposed to do, it’s going to work out.’

The 27-year-old texted Kim Clijsters for advice on how to deal with Wimbledon lawns but last week he said: ‘I might say it’s my favorite surface’

He added: ‘My life goal wasn’t really to play pro tennis or nothing else. I always said that I wanted to be a professional tennis player, but I don’t really think I fully believed it until my junior year.

‘It was like, let’s get a degree in the business school, and maybe I play pro tennis, maybe I coach, we’ll see what happens. Things just kind of started to gain some momentum around my junior year, and I decided to fully pursue tennis.’