Eubanks Appreciation Hour: Outside the ATP Week 5

A Mid-Wimbledon Report

Enjoy it While it Lasts

This week in the CLT Comintern group text, a party member wisely remarked that a great deal of mainstream tennis analysis basically boils down to “this guy is playing well” or “this guy isn’t playing well.” We here at ATP Insider headquarters, generally try to achieve a more nuanced, materialist critique. With that said, Chris Eubanks is playing really well. Like so well.

The unseeded American, who just a few weeks ago was barely ranked inside the top 100, has served his way into the quarter-finals with four impressive wins, including victories over seeds Cam Norrie and Stefanos Tsitsipas[1]. Regardless of how things shake out in his quarter today against Medvedev, Eubanks will enter the world’s top 25 in the new rankings.

I think this is pretty big news in the realm of leftist tennis.

Look, upsets happen. Unseeded players make quarters. Just on the other half of the draw, Roman Safiulin, also in his first Wimbledon Main Draw, found his way into the final eight before getting obliterated by Sinner. Safiullin, by the way, trained for a time as a junior at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, California. Perhaps play was been fueled by the Power of the Crystals.

Eubanks is something different. I know he’s an American player and I’m an American tennis writer writing for a (mostly) American audience, but I don’t think that’s the only appeal. For one thing, Eubanks, at least by the standards of professional tennis players, wasn’t a particularly good junior. By his senior year, he was “only” ranked as is the 14^th best American in his recruiting class[2], and this was by far his best mark. Perhaps because of his slower and more humble rise he seems, dare I say, normal? Or at least far more thoughtful and less emotionally stunted than the average men’s player. He also wasn’t home schooled, which probably helped too.

After high school, Eubanks played his college tennis at Georgia Tech, a respectable program, but not a squad consistently high in the rankings or with a reputation for producing professionals[3]. He stared for three years, got to 4^th in the singles national rankings, but never took an NCAA Singles Crown. Then he turned pro.

For the subsequent five years, Eubanks put together a respectable career, hovering in the ‘nearly on the main tour’ zone, between 120-250 in the ATP Rankings, but until the 2022 U.S. Open, he hadn’t made it out of the first round of a major and was moonlighting as a part-time commentator. Things have obviously taken off in 2023—he broke into the top 100, reached a masters quarter final, a major quarterfinal, and took his first career singles title. Even before the Wimbledon break through, this was the best summer of his tennis life.

So, let’s get to the important question: is Chris Eubanks a leftist?

Honestly, maybe. He follows John Ossoff on Instagram, which, by the standards of men’s tennis players, basically makes him a card-carrying member of the Communist Party. His game also doesn’t evoke the extractive evil of capital nor does it reactionarily romanticize the past. Sure, he hits a one-hander and leans on the serve and volley, but he also employs a whippy, modern forehand. It’s a big tent approach. Unlike comparably tall and talented big servers Kyrgios and Bublik, there isn’t a sense of waste when you watch Eubanks. He finds his best tennis when it matters. He rarely self-sabotages. He might be serve-bot adjacent, but he brings a cerebral finesse[4] to the style.

This is all to say, CLT is pro Chris Eubanks. But what do I make of his long-term prospects? And what will happen when he takes the court today against Daniil Medvedev[5] for a spot in the semi-final against either Rune or Alcaraz?

Short Term: Medvedev

Any analysis of this match-up must first address the literal material of the players. There isn’t that much of it. Both these guys are, medically speaking, insanely skinny. I’m not really sure how this affects the chances of either player, but the BMI (or lack thereof) on this court must be setting some kind of record. I could see them both getting taken down by a strong breeze.

Limb diameter aside, Eubanks and Medvedev share little in common as tennis players. Eubanks employs a heavy spinning forehand and tries to finish points quickly at the net. Medvedev hangs out closer to the back fence than the baseline and hits with less topspin than most men’s players of this era. Eubanks is a smooth, flowing athlete, Medvedev often looks like he’s dodging invisible paintballs. One plays short points. One lives to grind. One has won a major and has topped the world rankings, the other is in uncharted territory.

As for the tactics, I’ll be interested to see how Medvedev handles his court positioning. Against baseliners, he is one of the deadliest returners on tour, but he can be vulnerable to the serve and volley. I expect him to start things off with his regular, extremely deep positioning, but to mix it up deeper in sets if Eubanks holds easily. Expect him to change the look in 4-5 and 5-5 games, particularly.

Medvedev will definitely have the edge in the longer exchanges. From the back of the court, I’m not sure if Eubanks has the consistency or fire power to keep up with the former world number one. Look for Daniil to exploit the cross court backhand patterns and try to force Eubanks to pull the trigger early and when out of position.

I think this match will likely hinge on a tiebreaker or two in the early sets. If Eubanks can gain a foothold, it will be a battle. If not, Medvedev might run away with it.

My heart says Eubanks in five. My brain says Medvedev in 4.

Long Term Prognosis:

There’s no denying that much of Eubank’s recent rise has been fueled by a superlative grass court season, including his first title in Mallorca[6]. Unfortunately, unless he plays Newport, he won’t have another chance to show out on what appears to be is new favorite turf for nearly a year. Grass has a brief season and isn’t an ideal preferred surface. His game, also, is…let’s say limited on the red dirt, but that’s not exactly a unique condition amongst Americans. He does, however, have all the tools necessary to thrive on the summer hardcourt swing and in the fall indoor season. With minimal points to defend from 2022, it’s actually not outlandish to think Eubanks has an outside shot at reaching the fringes of the top 10 by year’s end. It’s also not outlandish to think that today will be the highwater mark of his entire career.

Tennis is fickle and fortunes change fast. If we went back in time roughly a decade to the summer of 2013, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and sat in with the American Tennis Brain Trust at the USTA Boys 18s National Championships, nearly all of them would’ve been betting on Jared Donaldson to be the next big star from the field of teenagers. And they looked right, at first. Donaldson, who lost in the final that year[7], quickly reached the top hundred and was the only American to make the inaugural Next Gen Finals[8] in 2017[9]. In the end, his career peaked with a ranking in the high 40s and he retired, in part due to injuries, in 2019. In fact, a decade later, the last American man playing singles at Wimbledon in 2023 is the unseeded guy who lost in the third round to someone named Adam Steryous[10]. Who could’ve seen that coming?

So, a decade from now, who knows what Chris Eubank’s legacy will be. Perhaps we are greeting him today at the beginning of a great career. I’d like to think he’ll thrive, win titles, and retire to glory as one of the finest American players of his generation But it’s also possible he’ll be out of the top hundred by 2025 and, over a beer between tennis leftists, one of us might remark, years from now, “remember when Eubanks made the Wimbledon Quarters…wild.” Or, perhaps most likely of all, he’ll hang around the top 60, have some big wins, take some bad losses, go on a run now and then, and, like many before him, endure. Sadly, I am certain that he is way to normal and well-adjusted to win a grand slam.

Future aside, I’m savoring this run while we have it. I suggest you do too.

-ATP Insider

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[1] Who I’m deservedly hard on, but the guy did have a brutal draw.

[2] Safiullin, meanwhile, won the junior Australian Open

[3] See, UCLA

[4] Especially when compared to Isner or Opelka

[5] Also playing in his first quarter at Wimby

[6] He also reached the Quarters in Miami as a qualifier, falling 5&3 to Medvedev.

[7] Shouts out to champion Collin Altamirano, that time we played doubles together at the 2009 West Coasts was sick.

[8] And of that field no one was picking Daniil Medvedev to be the first to win a slam.

[9] Hyeon Chung won it, remember him?

[10] This must be an insanely fun week for Adam Steryous.