There’s nothing like returning residence after a protracted journey.
Simply ask Christopher Eubanks, who raced by his opening-round match Tuesday on the Atlanta Open. Taking part in his first match since his dream Wimbledon quarter-final run, Eubanks wasted no time to defeat Andres Martin 6-2, 6-4.
In a match of two Atlanta natives, Eubanks produced firepower and clear hitting from the baseline to dispatch the wild card after one hour, seven minutes. Within the opening set, Eubanks didn’t a drop some extent behind his hefty serve (16/16) and because the match wore on, the fifth seed continued to thrill the house crowd by placing one-handed backhand winners with ease.
“I knew it was going to be a enjoyable ambiance,” Eubanks stated in his on-court interview. “I knew faculty night time, even the years that I performed it and final yr Andres had the privilege of enjoying on faculty night time, Georgia Tech followers actually come out they usually present lots of help.
“Andres and I do know one another very well. He is the man I practise with in all probability probably the most of anyone in Atlanta after I’m residence. We have had some fairly good battles in observe, so I knew going on the market that he’ll know my sport and I will know his sport.”
At World No. 32 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Eubanks is within the type of his life. The 27-year-old, who will meet countryman Brandon Nakashima within the second spherical, loved a quarter-final run on the ATP Masters 1000 occasion in Miami and hit a brand new excessive this month after triumphing on the Mallorca Championships and reaching the final eight at Wimbledon.
“I left I believe in all probability again in April and I used to be on the street for 12 straight weeks, performed 11 of 12 weeks and had some ups and downs, however the ups sort of got here in direction of the top and issues had been going very well,” Eubanks stated. “I am hoping to proceed that trajectory and see the place the summer season takes me. This complete yr actually has been a dream come true, so I am hoping to maintain it going.”
Eubanks Relishing Atlanta Return Following ‘Profession Altering’ Wimbledon Run
Martin, 22, not too long ago accomplished his junior yr at Georgia Tech, the place Eubanks was a student-athlete from 2014-17. The World No. 723 Martin, who ousted Thanasi Kokkinakis final yr as a wild card in Atlanta, was enjoying simply his third tour-level match.
Additionally in motion Tuesday night, Shang Juncheng downed American Ben Shelton 6-4, 6-4 in a #NextGenATP battle after profitable 83 per cent of first-serve factors to earn his second tour-level major draw victory. World No. 41 Shelton is the highest-ranked participant that the 18-year-old Shang has defeated in his profession.
“Ben is an incredible participant, he is made so many good matches this yr and he is an upcoming star,” Shang stated. “He is already round 40 on the planet, so for me it is actually wonderful to beat him right here. We had a extremely wonderful match, I performed actually good. I am glad concerning the efficiency and looking out ahead to the following spherical in opposition to Kei.”
A pivotal second got here when the Chinese language teen served for the match at 5-4. Shang trailed 15/40, however then gained 4 consecutive factors to safe a second-round conflict in opposition to Japanese star Kei Nishikori, who’s 15 years his senior.
Shang is seventeenth within the Pepperstone ATP Reside Subsequent Gen Race. He’s aiming to qualify for the Subsequent Gen ATP Finals for the primary time.
Earlier within the day, Dominik Koepfer rallied previous six-time Atlanta champion John Isner 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(3). Regardless of not breaking the 6’10” American’s serve, the German Koepfer held his nerve in two tie-breaks to earn his first major draw tour-level win since final yr’s ATP 500 occasion in Washington, D.C. Koepfer will face third seed Daniel Evans within the second spherical.
Tuesday was the 38-year-old Isner’s first opening-round loss on the Atlanta Open in 13 appearances.
