STARNBERG, November 21, 2020
Three unseeded US-Americans reached the semi-finals of the $52,080 Orlando Open Presented by Nemours on Friday at the USTA National Campus.
In the first of three all-US-American quarterfinal showdowns, Christopher Eubanks scored the biggest upset of the day, knocking off No. 2 seed Denis Kudla in a thrilling three-set match. Kudla was vying for back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles after prevailing at last week’s Atlantic Tire Championships in Cary, North Carolina. Eubanks fired 17 aces and broke his opponent’s serve three times to earn a 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3 victory after three hours and five minutes.
Nineteen-year-old Brandon Nakashima continued his strong 2020 campaign by upsetting No. 8 seed Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 7-6(8) in one hour and 51 minutes, while Mitchell Krueger dispatched qualifier Alexander Ritschard 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 after two hours and 34 minutes.
Yeah, @mackiemacster is fast. 🏃♂️🔥
Unreal hustle from the 🇺🇸 in Orlando. pic.twitter.com/C0VDVnqXcg
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 20, 2020
Meanwhile, India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran, a finalist at last week’s Cary event, became the only seeded player to advance to the semi-finals as the No. 4 seed defeated the sixth-seeded Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan 6-0, 6-3 in 90 minutes.
The second-seeded pair of Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedobyesov, both from Kazakhstan, advanced to Saturday’s doubles final. The second doubles semi-final featuring the No. 1 seeded Mexican team of Hans Hach Verdugo and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela versus US-Americans Mitchell Krueger and Jackson Withrow was suspended due to rain moments before the match was set to begin.
Play continues Saturday with the singles semifinals and the doubles final.
Friday, November 20 – Results
Singles Main Draw – Quarterfinals
Christopher Eubanks (USA) def. (2) Denis Kudla (USA) 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3
(4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) def. (6) Dmitry Popko (KAZ) 6-0, 6-3
Brandon Nakashima (USA) def. (8) Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-3, 7-6(8)
Mitchell Krueger (USA) def. (Q) Alexander Ritschard (USA) 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1
Doubles Main Draw – Semifinals
(2) Andrey Golubev (KAZ) / Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) def. Sadio Doumbia (FRA) / Fabien Reboul (FRA) 6-3, 7-5
