SANTA PONSA/STARNBERG, June 30, 2023
Christopher Eubanks has reached his maiden title match on the ATP Tour in dramatic fashion, as he needed to save five match points in Friday’s three-set semi-final battle against South African qualifier Lloyd Harris at the Mallorca Championships.
The 27-year-old US-American, a former Georgia Tech University standout, fired 14 aces and won 76 per cent of his first-service points to secure a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(9) victory in two hours and 18 minutes.
What. A. Match 🤯@chris_eubanks96 saves 5 (!) match points vs Harris to reach his first tour-level final in Mallorca!#MallorcaChampionships pic.twitter.com/TN9O4rTnz0
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 30, 2023
“I was just out here trying to fight and figure it out,” Eubanks said in his on-court interview. “I got off to a bit of a slow start, Lloyd played some really good tennis and made me play a lot of balls. I didn’t have my timing to start off.
“I just said, ‘I’m going to try and keep finding my rhythm on serve.’ That’s been the key to my success this week. I was able to do that, I was able to continue to fight. It means a lot, it’s just been a lot of hard work and persistence.”
Eubanks will take on French veteran Adrian Mannarino in the championship match of the ATP 250 grass-court event. The 34-year-old lefty ended the run of Yannick Hanfmann from Germany, winning 7-6(4), 6-4 in the second semi-final encounter. Mannarino capitalized on three of his four break-point chances to succeed in one hour and 50 minutes. He is bidding for his third tour-level title on Saturday.
