Christopher Eubanks continued his breakthrough season in dramatic fashion Friday when he saved five match points to reach his maiden ATP Tour final at the Mallorca Championships.
The 27-year-old survived a three-setter thriller against Lloyd Harris 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(9) after two hours, 18 minutes. Eubanks dug out of a 0/40 hole while serving at 4-5 in the decider and saved two more match points in the final-set tie-break.
“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.”
The former Georgia Tech University standout has soared 27 places to No. 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings this week, setting him up for a new career-high. A quarter-finalist at this year’s ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami, Eubanks is enjoying his career-best run on the Spanish island.
“It means a lot, it’s just been a lot of hard work and persistence,” Eubanks said. “Throughout my career, there’s been some ups and some downs, and things are finally starting to click for me. To finally see myself put together consistent, good play match after match is pretty incredible. Hoping to do one better tomorrow, but right now I'm going to enjoy this one.”
Eubanks will next meet fourth seed Adrian Mannarino in the ATP 250 final after the Frenchman closed Friday's play on Mallorca's centre court with a 7-6(7), 6-4 win against Germany's Yannick Hanfmann.
Mannarino improved to 12-9 in ATP Tour semi-finals to continue his bid for a third tour-level title. His previous triumphs came in 's-Hertogenbosch in 2019 and in Winston-Salem last season. The World No. 43's victory denied Hanfmann what would have been his third ATP Tour final and his first on grass.
After winning the opening tie-break, Mannarino closed out the win by converting on the first break point of the second set for either man.
The final between Mannarino and Eubanks will be played not before 6 p.m. local time on Saturday.
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