With 6ft 6in playing 6ft 7in (2.01m), the quarter-final between Daniil Medvedev and Chris Eubanks was always going to be a tall story. But in this battle of the beanpoles, the unseeded American’s crunching intensity on No.1 Court – where Medvedev has never lost a single contest – was at times little short of jaw-dropping. 

After a difficult first set, for a while the world No.43 was so insanely inspired that he was Eagle Eye Eubanks, the greatest player of all time. It seemed he must become the first Wimbledon debutant to reach the semi-finals since David Nalbandian, 21 years ago. 

But when the destruction levels of Storm Eubanks dropped from terrifying to somewhere near manageable, the No.3 seed began picking through the matchwood to find a way back. Exhausted, Eubanks had no more to give and Medvedev took it 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 in just under three tumultuous hours, to reach the last four here for the first time. 

“After the opening set, I didn’t want the match to go to five,” grinned Medvedev. “After the third set I certainly wanted to go to five. There was a moment in the match where I completely lost the game itself. I started to sink, make a lot of mistakes. 

“But in the third I built something and it helped me just be there in the fourth. From the tie-break I played amazing and I’m really happy about it.

“In the semi [where he will face Carlos Alcaraz] I have to make lots of aces. You can play the best match of your life on grass, and lose three tie-breaks, and no one will care if you played well.” 

These two had met once before, in Miami earlier this year. On that day each was near the top of his game, yet Medvedev still took it in straight sets. He must have gone into this quarter-final – his best Wimbledon progress to date – backing himself to make the last four. Instead a whirlwind arrived across the net. 

Towards the end of the third set Medvedev irritably swatted the ball away – but the ball hit a TV camera operator, causing umpire Damien Dumusois to give him a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. 

Yet it had all begun so well for him. Far from Eubanks’ serve living up to its billing as the danger weapon, he delivered successive double faults to gift an early break. Meanwhile, Medvedev’s own delivery functioned so effectively that Eubanks couldn’t get a read on it, earning not a single break point. 

This must have been the moment when – unseen by the 12,000 spectators on No.1 Court or the legion of television cameras present – Eubanks located a hidden telephone booth somewhere near the umpire’s chair, dived in, twirled around and emerged wearing an invisible cape, with a large ‘S’ on his chest.

The tennis that flowed from his racket for the rest of that set was other-worldly, as he surely saw the ball as never before. Those bearing witness could do little other than gasp in wonder and whoop with the thrill of it all. 

It wasn’t quite so jolly for the chap at the other end, who doubtless planned to start the third set by announcing the resumption of normal service. Instead, the dial was still gauging Eubanks’ return as ‘dementedly marvellous’, and Medvedev had as much chance of resisting as a tissue in a tornado. He service snapped in two immediately and he couldn’t get it back.

After the warning at the end of that set, Medvedev sat in his chair chewing furiously on an energy bar and glared at the green lawn before him. He had 30 winners to his name and just six errors, yet he was being blown off the court.

The match was rattling along, more mentally strength-sapping than physically. They tore through the fourth set and into the tie-break – Eubanks in the knowledge that he had won his last nine. But not this one. He wavered, and Medvedev pounced.

Now at last Eubanks was flagging. He surrendered a serve to love with a double fault and the muse had left him to embrace Medvedev once more.

“This has changed how I see my career,” said Eubanks afterwards. “I believe more in my ability to contend with the best players in the world - I’ve seen how I can frustrate and disrupt them. I want to continue this feeling.

“I’m more than OK with my effort today. It was one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever experienced. The crowd behind me was very cool and made it very memorable. It just didn’t go my way. Daniil raised his level. That’s why he is who he is. There’s only one winner. That’s tennis.”

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