TV expert loses wild match
Medvedev ends Eubank’s Wimbledon fairy tale
07/12/2023, 8:09 p.m
It’s a special story: Christopher Eubanks is actually known as a tennis expert from film and television. But now he is surprisingly in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. He is at a disadvantage against Daniil Medvedev, the Russian is celebrating a premiere himself.
The “surprise guest” Christopher Eubanks failed in another big coup in the quarter-finals of the 136th All England Championships. After his five-set victory over world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece, the 27-year-old American lost to world number three Daniil Medvedev from Russia at Wimbledon in a sometimes wild exchange of blows 4: 6, 6: 1, 6: 4, 6: 7 (4 :7), 1:6.
Late bloomer Eubanks would have been only the third Wimbledon debutant after John McEnroe (1977) and Argentinian David Nalbandian (2002) to advance straight into the semi-finals. There Medvedev, winner of the US Open 2021 and excluded from participation in Wimbledon last year, meets Carlos Alcaraz from Spain.
The world number 43 played against Medvedev. Eubanks, like in previous rounds, it’s all or nothing. In addition to 74 winning strokes, the statistics also showed 55 unforced errors, while his opponent had 52 “winners” and only 13 “unforced errors”. The Russian was also helped by his overweight in aces (28:17). “I played great after the tie-break,” said Medvedev.
Eubanks played with a firm belief in what he had previously emphasized: “You just have to play the big points better than the others.” That worked sometimes more, sometimes less well – and then not in the really crucial phases: He caused the loss of the fourth set with a mistake, then he immediately gave up his serve.
Medvedev took control – after 2:57 hours, Eubanks made a last mistake on the first match point. The Russian is in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time in his career.