If Monday evening marked Christopher Eubanks’ breakthrough, Tuesday evening took it to the next level.

“Ain’t no crying,” Eubanks said as he walked into the media mixed zone inside Hard Rock Stadium with a big smile on his face.

The American had just battled past Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-6(2), 7-6(5) in a rain-delayed two hours and 11 minutes to reach the quarter-finals of the Miami Open presented by Itau.

“It feels good, it feels good. Just like yesterday felt good, this feels great,” Eubanks said. “Just something about all of the delays and the stopping, the starting, the warming up and cooling down and warming up, it makes a match like this even sweeter and to think it was for my first Masters 1000 quarter-final is really, really special. It feels great, it feels good right now.”

After clawing past Gregoire Barrere in the third round, Eubanks was overcome by a flood of emotions. Not only had he rallied from 2/6 down in the second-set tie-break, but the match put him in position to crack the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time.

“I think last night was just so many different emotions just because of being down in the breaker, my mind kind of already floated to the idea of a third set, so to be able to come back and win it, it was a lot,” Eubanks said. “It was a lot, saving five set points and to be able to come back, it was more just kind of shock that I’d actually won the match and then to find out afterwards that match put me in the Top 100, that’s when the emotion came out.”

After the emotional night, Eubanks regrouped to oust veteran Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, one of the trickiest players on the ATP Tour. He is up to No. 85 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

“Today feels a little bit more like, ‘Hey, I’m here. Trust it,’” Eubanks said. “I’m playing well and let’s just see how long we can keep this thing going.”

Eubanks has received an outpouring of support from colleagues in the tennis world as well as plenty of people outside of it. Jamie Foxx congratulated him on social media Monday evening and NFL legend Chad Johnson was in the stands on Tuesday to support him.

Dear followers please congratulate my guy @chris_eubanks96 on yet another win tonight at the Miami Open, also inform him on the importance of post game McDonald’s to help recovery 🎾

— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) March 29, 2023

“It’s amazing man. It’s really, really cool. I’ve known Foxx for two, three years now and he’s become a really, really close friend, someone I can call if I just want to kind of talk through life a little bit,” Eubanks said. “Chad and I actually connected for the first time two or three weeks ago. He posted a video playing tennis and I think we had DM’d in the past and when he posted the video I commented saying, ‘Hey man that looks pretty good.’ He commented back saying, ‘I would love to get on the court with you,’ so I immediately shot him a DM I said, ‘Hey I’m going to be down in Miami for the Miami Open if you want to come out I can see about getting you a credential.’

“We were able to do that and he’s such an avid sports fan. He loves following tennis. He was super excited to be able to meet Carlitos today, he got to meet Tommy the other day. So he’s an all-around sports junkie. It was really cool for him to be able to come out. He stuck through one or two rain delays… It’s been really cool to see the outpouring of support. DJ D-Nice is another person who reached out and I got to meet. It’s been really, really cool.”

Eubanks’ run is not over yet. The 26-year-old will play red-hot Daniil Medvedev for a spot in the semi-finals.

Chad Johnson, a legendary NFL wide receiver who has also been known as ‘Chad Ochocinco’, is quickly becoming a tennis nut. The former Cincinnati Bengal standout and New York Mets star Francisco Lindor met with Carlos Alcaraz after the Spaniard’s fourth-round win at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Tuesday against Tommy Paul.

Johnson, who has made multiple visits to the tournament this fortnight, spoke to ATPTour.com about his relationship with Christopher Eubanks, Alcaraz’s game and more.

What made you interested in tennis?
My daughter is taking tennis lessons. She’s seven years old, she’s taking tennis lessons and I didn’t ignore it, but I had to take her to tennis lessons one day. I get there, she’s hitting the ball. I can’t sit still, so I grab a racquet and I start hitting the ball and now I’m taking lessons three times a week. I’m stuck in the game.

She goes to lessons… I’m taking my own lessons with another coach. Now I’m into it and want to get good at it. I’ll never be great obviously. But I can’t sit still, so I’ve been taking lessons. I’ve been taking it really seriously along with boxing.

I know Chris [Eubanks]. I asked Chris, I want to come out to the Miami Open, I know you’re here, I’d love to meet you, and that’s how everything started.

How cool was what he did last night, earning his way into the Top 100?
Unbelievable. Very cool. Very cool to see it. I’m very happy for Chris and his success. I’m excited to watch him tonight.

Did you get to see Carlos Alcaraz play?
I’ve been asking, Chris already told me about him. Tommy Paul told me about him earlier when I met him at the beginning of last week how good he was. But watching him live just puts everything into perspective that they were saying, so now I get it. I didn’t get it because you guys are pros, you guys are elite at the top level and to hear them speak about him in such a manner that I had no clue about until I was able to see the evidence out there today.

They talk about how explosive he is, which reminds me of you a little bit. How cool is it to see a different sort of athleticism in a different sport?
I think tennis doesn’t get its just due in my type of circle with the NFL circle. I don’t think they come and watch it up close. But then once you see it up close, you will have an unbelievable perspective of it and being able to watch someone like that today man, holy sh**!

Taylor Fritz enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2022, winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells and qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. The American has picked up this year where he left off.

The 25-year-old helped lead the United States to the United Cup title and is now 20-5 on the season. After defeating Holger Rune on Tuesday to reach the Miami Open presented by Itau quarter-finals, he climbed to sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. Next up will be defending champion and World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz

ATPTour.com caught up with Fritz’s coach, Michael Russell, about his consistently improving level, what people do not know about the American and more.

Taylor had an amazing year in 2022 and it would have been easy for him to potentially struggle a little bit this year after that breakthrough. But he seems very within himself at that level this year. How do you see it?
It’s been great. A lot of times that freshman year breaking into the Top 10 sometimes the expectation and even self-doubt can sometimes creep in. But Taylor’s always had that self confidence.

He’s got a great team around him as well that helps remind him how good he is and we continue to work on everything and continue to progress and not get complacent. That’s a big part of it. You set the goals and you set Top 10, set Top 5, but you have to keep changing those goals and creating goals, even individual tournament goals, ranking goals and most importantly, process goals. Just improving your game.

You’re known for how hard you work with your players. After a year like last year did you take it up a notch? Did you change your plan with him?
It’s a balance. It’s a fine line. I think we can always work harder, but you also have to work smart. Taylor is a big guy, almost 6’5” and the way he plays is very explosive, powerful tennis, so we have to gear the training around that and then still have the endurance factor.

What is something that people don’t realise about Taylor or his game?
Personally he’s a very laid back guy, pretty soft spoken, more introverted. But when it comes to the actual competition and tennis aspect, he’s one of the best competitors I’ve seen and the public can see he’ll do anything to try to win that last point.

Sometimes it’s hard to mesh the two because you see a guy who’s pretty laid back and doesn’t show a ton of emotion when he’s playing, like really getting fired up. But deep down inside he has that burning desire the whole time.

Now that he has installed himself at the upper echelons of the game, what is the next step in his progression? How do you go from where he is now to climb even higher?
Number one is staying healthy, which we all know sometimes you can’t control that, or a lot of times you can. Just continuing to stay healthy with all the impact of the Tour, the travel, the different court surfaces, different balls to the different weeks.

It makes it challenging, so it’s really important that he stays healthy and then continuing to increase the strength, the stamina, his speed, so that his explosiveness and his power game can become even more powerful and more consistent and he can sustain that throughout the course of a whole year, so you don’t get as many fluctuations through the year, through tournaments. You try to stabilise those.

What’s the best match you’ve seen him play?
You have to dissect it by the years. Let’s just take this year, 2023. He’s played some really good matches. He played the finals, almost the whole match, for a set and three quarters against Kecmanovic in the finals of Delray. Taylor was up 6-0, 5-3 and had match points and Miomir hit some amazing shots to save match points.

But for that set and three quarters was some of the best tennis I’ve ever seen Taylor play. Literally every forehand he hit was a winner and every first serve he put in the court didn’t come back. When that combination is happening, I don’t know anybody in the world who would be able to beat him.

What’s your favourite part about coaching him?
He’s very respectful and he listens. He’s very stubborn, which you expect every great player to be. But he does listen and he does absorb and the communication factor, there’s a lot of synergy there, which is great. So there’s not any question as to what’s being said or if something’s not understood, we have a dialogue about it.

What’s the most stubborn thing he’s done while you’ve been coaching him?
We can say playing the finals of Indian Wells when he couldn’t even walk. That was extremely stubborn because we all, just based on his feelings and what he was explaining to us, it was the most excruciating pain he’s ever felt in his life.

We didn’t want him to have a career-ending injury not just for tennis, but for quality of life. He insisted on playing and obviously the rest we know what happened. He’s extremely stubborn on that front. A lot of times he’ll make decisions that he thinks are best, but usually the team goes along with it.

If you could snap your fingers and make one thing happen with him what would it be and why?
I would love for Taylor to win a Grand Slam and be No. 1 in the world. That’s [the] main goal of course. I would love for him to have unlimited explosiveness and never get tired, ever. It’s a very open-ended question, so there is a lot of ambiguity there!

In hindsight, the physicality part, I would love it if he could play for eight hours and have more explosiveness than anybody in the history of tennis. Then I think the other two goals of winning a Grand Slam [and reaching No. 1] would happen for sure, but that’s our goal. I think he’s been working hard and that’s the ultimate goal.

Jannik Sinner is playing some of the best tennis of his career in 2023. The 21-year-old is 19-4 on the year and three of his four losses have come against Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

According to Tennis Insights, the statistics back up his win-loss record. The Italian has not just been winning, but has been doing so with top-tier quality.

Across ATP Tour events in 2023, Sinner’s Shot Quality has ranked second for the forehand, backhand and return. Shot Quality is calculated in real time by analysing each shot’s speed, spin, depth, width, and the impact it has on the opponent.

Only Novak Djokovic’s forehand, Borna Coric’s backhand and Daniil Medvedev’s return Shot Qualities have been better. Sinner is the only player in the Top 3 for all three strokes.

Forehand Shot Quality (2023)

Backhand Shot Quality (2023)

Return Shot Quality (2023)

Sinner earned his biggest breakthrough two years ago at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 player. But he feels he is a better player now.

“When I made the final here, I felt like it was completely something new,” Sinner told the media Tuesday in Miami. “Now I feel like I take every match in the best possible way. I go on court with a gameplan and I try to stick with it. Back in the day I was just going for shots without even thinking so much.

“Now it’s a little bit easier to execute it. But for sure I [will] try to go as far as possible and then we’ll see.”

How big do Sinner’s shots feel for opponents? The next player he will face, Emil Ruusuvuori, did not hesitate with his answer.

“Very, very big. He has just this extra gear sometimes that he can put on and just pop it and it just is like a missile,” Ruusuvuori told ATPTour.com. “You can’t leave anything hanging on either side. It’s going to be difficult to get back from those situations so you try to attack first and then go from there.”

‘My level was great, and I felt good on court’ @janniksin

We’re not arguing with that 🤯 #ShotQuality from every area of the game 📈💥#TennisInsights | @atptour | @MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/c8a2T0IGnq

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) March 28, 2023

If Sinner brings the imperious form he showed Tuesday against Andrey Rublev, it will be tough for any opponent to keep up.

Sinner’s jaw-dropping Shot Quality for the forehand (8.6), backhand (8.04) and return (7.47) in 2023 have been as close to the top of the charts as possible. But his metrics against Rublev were significantly better.

The Italian’s forehand Shot Quality was a 9, his backhand was a 9.5 and his return was an 8.5. That led to a resounding 6-2, 6-4 win against the No. 7 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

The frequency of a player achieving a Shot Quality of at least 9 on a shot is 0.3 per cent. Sinner did it on two different strokes in the same match.

“We try our best every day and I’m very happy about the performance today,” Sinner said in his post-match interview. “Playing against Andrey is never easy. He serves very well and he plays very aggressive, so I had to change a little bit today. For sure, my level was great, I felt good on court, so hopefully I can keep it up in the next round.”

Follow @tennis_insights on Twitter to learn how Shot Quality and other Tennis Insights are created.

A pair of former champions, Stan Wawrinka and Fabio Fognini, have been awarded wild cards for the 2023 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

The clay-court ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monaco, to be held from 9-16 April, announced on Tuesday that it will welcome back former World No. 3 Wawrinka for a 12th main-draw appearance at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. The Swiss defeated his countryman Roger Federer to lift the trophy in 2014 and also reached the semi-finals in 2009 at an event where he holds a 21-11 record.

📣 Wild Cards for the singles main draw

1️⃣ @fabiofogna 🇮🇹 2019 Champion

2️⃣ @stanwawrinka 🇨🇭 2014 Champion

3️⃣ @jackdraper0 🇬🇧 fast rising 21-years-old, world No.43

4️⃣ @val_vacherot 🇲🇨 top ranked Monaco Player#RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/Q0gs8v06HW

— Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (@ROLEXMCMASTERS) March 28, 2023

The nine-time tour-level titlist Fognini enjoyed his victory moment in Monaco in 2019, when he took out Alexander Zverev and 11-time champion Rafael Nadal en route to the trophy.

Two other wild card entrants to the 56-man main draw were announced on Tuesday. Fast-rising 21-year-old Jack Draper, the No. 43 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, will make his Monte Carlo main-draw debut, as will Valentin Vacherot. The World No. 322 Vacherot is the No. 1 Monegasque player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Karen Khachanov ended his victory drought against Top 10 opponents in style on Tuesday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where the World No. 16 downed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(4), 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Khachanov entered the match with an 0-6 ATP Head2Head record against the Greek but produced a confident display full of clean groundstrokes off both wings on Grandstand. The second-seeded Tsitsipas never found his best level as Khachanov’s high-energy performance snapped a 23-match losing streak against players in the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“They say third time is a charm, but for me it took seven times, so I’m super happy,” said Khachanov after his 93-minute win. “Not most importantly that I beat Stefanos, but I think with the way I’m playing. After the Australian Open, I had some issue with an injury. I came back in Dubai without having played many matches and I’m just happy to continue that level.

“I just want to continue that way, enjoy the process, and enjoy the journey. It continues.”

QUARTER-FINAL BOUND ✅@karenkhachanov gets past Tsitsipas 7-6(4) 6-4 to advance in Miami🌴@MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/qkSFLXI2lM

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 28, 2023

Khachanov fended off two Tsitsipas break points and did not conjure a single one of his own in a first set largely dominated by serve, but the 26-year-old was rewarded for his persistence as he pressured Tsitsipas into a series of backhand errors en route to claiming the tie-break.

Taking the lead appeared to further galvanise Khachanov, whose precise serving offered the World No. 3 Tsitsipas few opportunities to settle into rallies on return. After clinically breaking Tsitsipas’ serve to love in the fifth game, Khachanov showed no sign of nerves as he completed his victory having won 89 per cent (39/44) of points behind his first delivery.

Khachanov has now reached the quarter-finals in four of the six tour-level events he has played this year. That sequence includes reaching his second consecutive Grand Slam semi-final at January’s Australian Open, where he ultimately fell to Tsitsipas. The 26-year-old said staying aggressive to pin the powerful Tsitsipas back had been crucial to engineering his revenge win in Miami.

“I think [restricting Tsitsipas] was the key,” said Khachanov. “Both of us were serving pretty well in the first set… Then I took it to the tie-break, and in the second set as soon as the opportunity came, I had to take it.

“Those conditions are pretty quick, so I think it’s crucial to have the first serve going and the first shot after. I think both of us played extremely aggressive, so whoever took the chance first got the win.”

Khachanov’s run to his maiden quarter-final in Miami has lifted him two spots to No. 14 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The 26-year-old’s next opponent at Hard Rock Stadium will be 25th seed Francisco Cerundolo or Lorenzo Sonego.

The first two semi-final spots at the Miami Open presented by Itau are up for grabs on Wednesday in South Florida.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will continue his quest for the ‘Sunshine Double’ against American Taylor Fritz, while Jannik Sinner aims to reach consecutive ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals when he takes on Emil Ruusuvuori.

ATPTour.com previews the quarter-final matchups from the top half of the draw in South Florida.

View Schedule | View Draw

[1] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. [9] Taylor Fritz (USA)

After winning his third ATP Masters 1000 crown in Indian Wells earlier this month, Alcaraz has quickly adjusted to the faster conditions in Miami, defeating Facundo Bagnis, Dusan Lajovic and Tommy Paul to reach the last eight.

Chasing his 10th consecutive win, the Spaniard will look to maintain his level and overcome Top 10 star Fritz. The American is no stranger to the big stage, having lifted the trophy in Indian Wells last year. Chasing his sixth tour-level title this week, he produced a ruthless performance against Holger Rune to advance to the quarter-finals in Miami for the first time.

Possessing a thunderous serve and a destructive forehand, the 25-year-old will need both to fire if he is to breach the Alcaraz defence in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

“The serve is always the most important thing. If I’m not serving well, then I’m getting broke and under a lot of pressure on my serve, it’s tough,” said Fritz, who has not dropped a set this fortnight. “Serving well, it just frees up the rest of my game, because I feel like it’s okay if I take chances, miss shots, go for a little bit more because I know I’m going to be getting free points on my serve.”

Alcaraz demonstrated great agility during his fourth-round match against Paul, scampering down every ball to stay in points before using his explosive groundstrokes and deft drop shot to turn the tables. The Spaniard is hopeful he can hit the same heights against Fritz.

“I played a really great match [against Paul] and I hope to play the same level in the quarter-final,” Alcaraz said. “I moved well and defended well and I counter-attacked and I think if I play at that same level, I will have a lot of chances to get through.”

Fritz, who would rise to No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings if he lifts his second ATP Masters 1000 crown on Sunday, is relishing the challenge the 19-year-old possesses.

“I am really excited for it,” Fritz said. “I think that a lot of people, a lot of people are really excited for that too. We have never played each other. I think it’s an interesting matchup. Obviously he’s playing great lately, and he had some injuries but hasn’t missed a beat. He’s been just on fire.”

Defending champion Alcaraz is aiming to become the youngest player to win the ‘Sunshine Double’. If the Spaniard can defeat Fritz and then go all the way, he will also remain at No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Any slip up, however, and Novak Djokovic will return to the top.

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[10] Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs. Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN)

Sinner has produced his best level in Miami throughout his career. The 21-year-old soared to his first ATP Masters 1000 final on tournament debut in South Florida in 2021, before he advanced to the quarter-finals last season.

The Italian has once again looked comfortable at the hard-court event this year, dispatching Laslo Djere, Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev in straight sets. Next in the firing line is Ruusuvuori, who is an opponent Sinner has a stranglehold over.

The 10th seed leads the Finn 4-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, and will be aiming for a Miami hat-trick on Wednesday after defeating Ruusuvuori in South Florida in 2021 and 2022. Sinner overpowered the 23-year-old with his flat and aggressive groundstrokes in their previous meetings and will be confident he can do so once again as he chases his eighth win in nine matches.

Ruusuvuori enters his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final off the back of an epic three-set win against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. The 23-year-old reached the third round in Indian Wells earlier this month and has built on that run in Miami, defeating Nuno Borges, Roberto Bautista Agut and Taro Daniel at the hard-court event.

Up 17 spots to No. 37 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, the Finn will move to the brink of the Top 30 if he can continue his dream run on Wednesday.

In Doubles Action…

The doubles quarter-final action also starts on Wednesday, when top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski face Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The Dutch-British pair reached the final in Miami last year and will be aiming to go one step further this week as they chase their first title of the season.

The other quarter-final pits fifth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara against Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow. Glasspool and Heliovaara, who won the title in Adelaide earlier this year, are making their team debut in Miami this week.

Taylor Fritz reached the quarter-finals at Miami Open presented by Itau for the first time on Tuesday, overcoming Holger Rune 6-3, 6-4 in the first Top 10 clash at this year’s event.

The American, who had never been beyond the fourth round in six previous appearances in South Florida, was dialled in from ball one inside Hard Rock Stadium. He combined fierce power with consistency to outlast World No. 8 Rune in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

Fritz drove the ball down the middle of the court to cut off angles for the Dane and stepped forward at crucial times, striking 19 winners throughout the 85-minute clash. He has now earned three straight-sets victories this fortnight, having also defeated Emilio Nava and Denis Shapovalov.

“I couldn’t play aggressively in my first two matches because my opponents were hitting every ball as hard as they could. [Rune] still crushes the ball but it was nice to feel I had some more time,” Fritz said. “The first two rounds, it was impossible to play my game, I just had to make balls. Today when I got the chance to be aggressive I was and I just wanted to serve well and try not to give him many free points.”

The World No. 10 holds a 20-5 record on the season, highlighted by his title run in Delray Beach. He will aim to reach his third ATP Masters 1000 semi-final when he plays top seed Carlos Alcaraz or countryman Tommy Paul in the last eight.

Fritz arrived in Miami at No. 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after his Indian Wells title defence was ended at the quarter-final stage by Jannik Sinner. Having been at a career-high No. 5 earlier this month, the 25-year-old is on a mission to rise again and will climb to No. 6 if he lifts his second ATP Masters 1000 crown in South Florida.

“I think my average level of tennis is a lot higher,” Fritz said. “I don’t need to always show up and play my best and if I don’t play my best, that level is higher than it used to be. I feel I can come through and win a lot of matches.”

Rune, currently No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, earned victories against Marton Fucsovics and Diego Schwartzman on his debut in Miami. The three-time tour-level titlist struggled to find his best level at the crucial moments against Fritz, however, converting just one of his six break point opportunities.