Until this week 21-year-old Christopher Eubanks had never won a main draw match on the ATP Tour. This has now changed following an unexpected run at the BB&T Atlanta Open.
Following up on his first round win over Taylor Fritz, Eubanks shocked 8th seed Jared Donaldson 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, on Thursday. The triumph saw him hit a total of eight aces and win 67% of his service points to progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament.
“It is like a dream come true,” Eubanks said. “I am hoping I am not waking up anytime soon.”
The Atlanta native is a familiar face on the American college tennis circuit, being named ACC’s player of the year for two consecutive seasons. On the ATP Tour, he is currently ranked 491st in the world and has only participated in six tour-level tournaments (including qualifying) since 2012. Five of which were at the BB&T Atlanta Open.
Reflecting on his Atlanta run so far, a somewhat shocked Eubanks have described it as a ‘remarkable week.’
“I do not think I could rank one over another. The whole situation is pretty crazy. Both of the wins lumped up together, it makes for a pretty remarkable week. I am just hoping I can keep it going. Then you can be asking what is better your first, your second or your third.” He told ajc.com.
On Friday the wild card will face fourth seed Ryan Harrison. World No.42 Harrison booked his place in the last eight with a hard-fought 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 7-5, win over Australia’s John Milman.
“He has got a big game,” Harrison said about the upcoming clash. “Anytime you got a guy is 6’8 of 6’9 with a live arm, and he is pretty fundamentally sound also. It is just a matter of time before he gets control of all those big shots. And it is dangerous.”
Top seed Sock safely through
Elsewhere at the tournament Jack Sock continues his quest for a third ATP title of the season with a 6-4, 6-3, win over Dudi Sela of Israel. The display saw the top seed drop only six points behind his first serve and successfully save all six break points he faced.
After his win tonight @JackSock had a few words for the fans in Atlanta. In the quarterfinals on Friday Jack will take on Chris Eubanks. pic.twitter.com/ESBAUwRlBc
— BB&T Atlanta Open (@BBTatlantaopen) 28 July 2017
Sock will next play Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund in what will be the first tour meeting between the two players. Seeking his first tour title, Edmund battled past Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.
“I was really pleased to get through that,” the BBC quoted Edmund as saying.
“It is nice to get wins under your belt and get some momentum for the rest of this hard-court swing.”
Quarter-final line-up
(1) Jack Sock USA Vs (5) Kyle Edmund GBR
(4) Ryan Harrison USA Vs (WC) Christopher Eubanks USA
(3) Gilles Muller LUX Vs (Q) Tommy Paul USA
(2) John Isner USA vS Lukas Lacko SLO
