Wimbledon 2023: Keys, Eubanks join Pegula in singles fourth round

After Jessica Pegula powered into the Wimbledon fourth round with a Friday win, Madison Keys and Christopher Eubanks followed the fourth seed's lead on Saturday to reach the singles last 16.

All three Americans won their third-round matchups in straight sets against unseeded opposition. Pegula beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto before No. 25 seed Keys downed Marta Kostyuk and Eubanks edged Christopher O'Connell in three tiebreaks.

Keys, who entered Wimbledon after claiming the grass-court title in Eastbourne, has now won eight straight matches without dropping a set. Her latest victory was a 6-4, 6-1 triumph against Ukraine's Kostyuk in which she showed great resolve to save 10 of 11 break points.

Dominant on first serve to the tune of an 80% win rate, Keys was ruthlessly efficient on return, converting on five of her seven break chances. She also lasered 24 winners in the one-hour, 16-minute victory.

Next up for the 28-year-old is a fourth-round meeting with either 22nd seed Anastasia Potapova or 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva. Their match, originally scheduled for Saturday evening, was postponed to Sunday by rain.

One more win for Keys would see her match her best Wimbledon result, a quarterfinal run in 2015. The grass-court Grand Slam is the only major at which the American has not reached at least the semis.

Eubanks won his first ATP Tour title in Mallorca last weekend and has carried that form into his Wimbledon debut. The fan favorite backed up a four-set win against 12th seed Cameron Norrie on Friday—a result he called "the biggest win of my career"—with a 7-6(5), 7-6(3), 7-6(2) victory over Australia's O'Connell.

Behind 23 aces and an 87% win rate on first serve, Eubanks dropped serve just once in the match.

"I got off to a good start," said Eubanks, who is set to break into the ATP's Top 40 for the first time behind his best major showing.

"I think I had an early break in the first, wasn't able to consolidate, got broken back. But from that point on I thought I served exceptionally well, thought I played the big points well, I returned well late in the third," he continued. "All in all, I'm really, really pleased with my performance."