Jesper de Jong, who debuted on a Grand Slam in 2024, saw his Wimbledon adventure end in the second round of the qualifying tournament in the past three years. The Dutchman was drawn against former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Christopher Eubanks in his Wimbledon debut.
The 25-year-old De Jong started strongly against Eubanks, who already conceded his first break in his first service game. A merciless De Jong went on to win the first set 6-3 after losing just six of his 26 service points and hitting just five unforced errors.
The American former 23rd-ranked player fought back in the second set, which saw both players play steady service games. Eubanks got to four break points, all of which were defended well by De Jong.
A tie break was necessary to determine a set winner, and after squandering a mini-break lead twice, De Jong got on the back foot and had to concede the tiebreak.
Another steady service game from both players saw De Jong successfully stay unbroken again, fending off Eubanks' three break points en route to another tie break. As De Jong got to set point on 6-5 and after two mini-breaks, a double fault got Eubanks right back in it as the American took back the initiative and grabbed the set win with a 9-7 tie break victory.
Comeback
With his Wimbledon debut on the line, De Jong stepped up his game and limited his double faults back to two, after committing six in the third set. The Dutchman stayed impeccable in defending Eubanks on break points, of which the American got two, and De Jong profited from Eubanks' 16 unforced errors to win the set 6-3.
After nearly three-and-a-half hours of tennis in the sweltering heat of SW19, De Jong forced a deciding fifth set on his Wimbledon debut. De Jong stayed cool, but had to fiercely defend in the eleventh game, when Eubanks went up 40-15 and was set to break De Jong in his hour of need. The Dutchman recovered and made it to a deciding super tie break.
A storming De Jong, who'd refound his serve, raced to a 6-1 lead with three mini-breaks to his advantage. Flashbacks to his dramatic qualifying loss at Wimbledon last year, in which De Jong squandered an 8-3 lead in the super tie break, couldn't break De Jong as he closed out the match with an ace to win a stunning Wimbledon debut after four hours and 34 minutes.
The 106th-ranked De Jong saw off Eubanks, the world number 130, and will now face Miomir Kecmanovic after the Serbian's 3-2 win over Alex Michelsen.
View all the match statistics on Flashscore.
