Chris Eubanks wins his first match for his country, and it may not be his last

“I was pretty nervous all day, since I found out I was going to play,” Chris Eubanks said after winning his Davis Cup debut match against Ukraine over the weekend.

Eubanks’ opponent, Viacheslav Bielinskyi, is not someone who would normally make the American quake in his kicks. He’s ranked 498th, he’s played a total of two ATP-level matches in his young career so far, and he was physically overmatched by the long and lanky Eubanks.

On the surface, the setting also didn’t seem to be all that intimidating for a player who made a Wimbledon quarterfinal last year. Because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this qualifying-round tie was moved to Lithuania, where a crowd filled up roughly half of a small-sized arena.

Despite everything, though, it was Davis Cup. The event, after a series of confusing format changes and a bleak couple of years in the pandemic wilderness, may not be quite what it used to be. But it’s still the men’s team competition that means the most to the players, and one that the U.S. in particular is desperate to win again. The nation has the most Cups, 32, but it has hoisted just one in this century, in 2007.

“Representing your country means a lot more than just playing for yourself,” Eubanks said. “I had a lot of guys I didn’t want to let down.”

Eubanks had a few extra reasons to be nervous. First, he was a same-day substitute for U.S. No. 1 Taylor Fritz, who pulled out with a hip injury. Second, he had just watched as his teammate Sebastian Korda had almost succumbed to his own nerves, and barely edged a Ukrainian opponent ranked 300 spots below him. Third, it was only recently that the 27-year-old Eubanks could ever have believed he would be playing a Davis Cup tie for the States. A year ago, he was ranked outside the Top 100.

Eubanks looked understandably tight in the early going. An easy forehand found the net, and a break point or two went unconverted. But this former college player’s outgoing personality was made for the chatty team atmosphere. Eubanks grinned in the direction of his teammates after his first service hold. While most players sit silently on changeovers and listen to their coaches give them advice, Eubanks was the one doing most of the talking in his chats with U.S. captain Bob Bryan.

Pretty soon Eubanks was playing his normal game and making quick work of his opponent as well. He may not be Bryan’s first choice when Davis Cup resumes in the fall, but if Fritz or Frances Tiafoe or Tommy Paul can’t play, Eubanks should make for a sturdy backup. He’s already contributed an important win to the team’s 2024 campaign.

“Relieved,” was the word he used when asked how he felt after his 6-3, 6-2 win. “Nerves were pretty strong at the beginning, but I settled down nicely and played pretty well.”

Hope—often of the irrational variety—springs eternal for Jelena Ostapenko

In her final-round win on Sunday in Linz, Ostapenko hit a crosscourt forehand that landed a good foot wide. Yet after the ball bounced and was called out, she looked stunned, and raised her arms in disbelief at the injustice.

A few games later, Ostapenko’s opponent, Ekaterina Alexandrova, hit a ground stroke that landed on the baseline and won her the point. Again, Ostapenko was shocked. She looked over at her coaching team and signaled that Alexandrova’s shot had landed six inches long—at least. When a replay quickly proved her wrong, she shrugged as if to say, “That computer doesn’t know what it’s talking about.”

In moments like this, Ostapenko can seem as if she’s playing a different match from the one everyone else is watching, and that she’s living in her own fantasy tennis world. So far this year, though, her dreams have been turning into reality. Her title in Linz was her second of the young season, and with her 6-2, 6-3 win over Alexandrova, she ran her 2014 record to 13-2, with both losses coming to Victoria Azarenka. Throw in her runner-up finish in doubles at the Australian Open with Lyudmyla Kichenok, and Ostapenko is having as much success as any of her WTA tour-mates at the moment.

“It was a really good week, and I felt like every match I was playing better and better,” said Ostapenko, who saved a match point, and came back from a set and 4-1 down, in her first-round win over Clara Tauson in Linz.

“I’m just happy with the way I’m playing this year,” Ostapenko said. “I think I feel like I’m more mature and confident with my game, so it motivates me more and more to work hard and get back to the Top 10.”

Ostapenko is almost there; her Linz title moved her from No. 12 to No. 11. It has been seven years since she won her lone major title, in legendarily feast-or-famine fashion, at Roland Garros. Now 26, it’s hard to say Ostapenko is playing it safer these days; she still tries to end rallies as soon as humanly possible. But more often now, she hits to bigger targets and puts a little more shape on the ball. She still drills her returns, but she’ll just as often go down the middle, rather than aiming for the corners. Against Alexandrova, Ostapenko had success winning points with two-shot crosscourt combinations; in the past, she might have tried to end them with a single, rifled winner.

Ostapenko’s revival is a welcome one. She hits as many jaw-dropping shots, and offers as many entertaining facial expressions, as anyone on either tour. Maybe the eternal hope she shows on court—for everything she touches to turn into a winner, and every call to go her way—isn’t so irrational after all.