ATLANTA/STARNBERG, July 27, 2023
Christopher Eubanks booked his spot in the quarterfinals of the Atlanta Open. The No. 5 seed of the ATP 250 hard-court event fought past fellow US-American Brandon Nakashima 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday.
Nakashima played a near-perfect tiebreaker to claim the first set. Eubanks only needed one break off Nakashima to win the second set and tie the match at one set apiece. In the third, Eubanks had the fans biting their nails; the 27-year-old Atlanta native faced triple break point but was able to serve his way out of it, sealing the match with an ace after two hours and 21 minutes. Eubanks has won 11 of his last 12 matches and will next take on Aleksandar Vukic of Australia.
Eubs to the QF
hris ubanks goes the distance, defeating Nakashima 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the @ATLOpenTennis quarterfinals!@chris_eubanks96 pic.twitter.com/1iZEkN4J41
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 27, 2023
In other second-round action, No. 2 seed Alex de Minaur beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in an all-Australian affair 6-3, 6-4. In the first set, de Minaur hit a slice volley down the line to take the first 6-3. In the second set, Kokkinakis fought off three break points to secure a 3-0 lead. With Kokkinakis serving at 3-1, the Aussie hit a forehand wide and de Minaur broke back. Tied at 4-4, Kokkinakis missed another forehand wide while down 30-40, giving de Minaur another break. The Atlanta Open defending champion served out the match after one hour and 34 minutes.
WEDNESDAY RESULTS
Singles – Round of 16
[7] U. Humbert (FRA) def. [Q] L. Harris (RSA) 7-6(6), 6-4
A. Vukic (AUS) def. [4] Y. Nishioka (JPN) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3)
[2] A. de Minaur (AUS) def. T. Kokkinakis (AUS) 6-3, 6-4
[5] C. Eubanks (USA) def. B. Nakashima (USA) 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5
Doubles – Round of 16
J. Cash (GBR) / R. Galloway (USA) def. [2] N. Mahut (FRA) / E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 7-6(7), 7-6(10)
W. Blumberg (USA) / R. Ram (USA) def. D. Evans (GBR) / J. Smith (AUS) 6-2, 1-6, 10-4
[4] N. Lammons (USA) / J. Withrow (USA) def. B. McLachlan (JPN) / B. Shelton (USA) 6-7(5), 7-5, 10-7
