WHAT HAPPENED: What was looking like a straight-sets victory for American Chris Eubanks quickly turned into anything but a straightforward affair during his first-round match at the 2023 US Open. After putting an ugly third set behind him, Eubanks put a shiny gloss to his first Grand Slam match as a seeded player.
Eubanks, ranked No. 28, won his second-ever match at the US Open, defeating Soonwoo Kwon, 6-3, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 on the Grandstand on Monday night.
Though Eubanks’ serve didn’t earn him as many free points as usual, he was able to save three break points chances from Kwon in the first set—two of them coming at 2-2, immediately before Eubanks got the break to take a 4-2 lead. Eubanks fired 15 winners (compared to six for Kwon) in the opening set, and was more efficient in the second set when he compiled 13 winners to 10 unforced errors. Six of those winners were aces, and after two sets, Eubanks was winning 80 percent of his first-serve points.
Then the third set happened.
Despite only putting in 47% of his first serves in play during the third frame, Kwon served up a bagel, 6-0, in large part due to Eubanks’ 11 unforced errors. Combine the errors with not serving an ace in the entire set, and Eubanks suddenly found himself in a real tussle.
A clearly perturbed Eubanks walked off the court to take a bathroom break—and possibly gave himself a talking-to after his error-strewn display gave the South Korean a lifeline.
Eubanks found the range once again in the fourth set, and was able to secure an early break to go up 2-1. On match point, Eubanks fired off his 14th ace of the match to close things out.
“I think Soonwoo is one of the best ball strikers on tour," Eubanks said. "When he gets in the mode [like] he was in the third set, it's tough for everybody. Not very often I get broken three times in one set. When that happened, [I said], ‘All right, let's throw that one out the window, start fresh in the fourth.’ Everything else kind of took care of itself.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Outside of the Carlos Alcaraz versus Novak Djokovic thriller in the final, Eubanks might have been the biggest storyline coming out of Wimbledon on the men’s side. His stellar play (a breakthrough run to the quarterfinals) and affable personality endeared himself to fans across the world.
It also vaulted him into uncharted territory in the ATP rankings, reaching a career-high of No. 29 at the end of July. The adoration for Eubanks clearly carried over to New York, as the Atlanta native pumped up the crowd a few times to help him come out of his doldrums and find the form that saw him dominate the early part of the contest with Kwon.
MATCH POINT: It seems like only yesterday that Eubanks, while still enrolled at Georgia Tech, made his Grand Slam debut, supported by a busload of friends and family from his Atlanta-based tennis club that made the trip to Flushing Meadows. That was 2017, and it took five years—and a lot of ups and downs in between—before Eubanks finally won a match at a major, in last year’s US Open. Six years later, Eubanks is now a must-see, with his assignment to the Grandstand for the first round further proof that his following only continues to grow.
“It was pretty chilling when I walked out there and saw the crowd that was already there waiting,” Eubanks said. “To hear the applause that they gave me ... I played many a match here at the Open, but nothing [has been] anything quite like that for a first round. I think it was really, really special. The fans that came out showed great support. I think that really, really served me well throughout the course of the match.”
He’ll have a chance to reach the third round in New York for the first time on Wednesday.
