Chris Eubanks showed on Thursday night that he wasn’t a one-trick pony as the rising senior at Georgia Tech knocked off ATP #59 Jared Donaldson 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to move into the quarterfinals at the BB&T Atlanta Open. Eubanks went down a break midway through the first set when Donaldson broke from 15/40 to go ahead 3-2 but Eubanks broke back in the next game from 30/40 and then broke again in a two-deuce game to secure the opening set 6-4. There was only one break in the second set and it came when Donaldson broke Eubanks in a four-deuce game, a game that Eubanks had led 40/15, to go up 4-3. In the third and final set Eubanks jumped out to a 3-0 lead by holding at love twice and breaking from 30/40. Eubanks added one more break to close out the match in 1 hour and 46 minutes. Next up for Eubanks is the fourth seed Ryan Harrison, who is currently ranked #42, in a match that scheduled third so it’ll probably start in the 3:30 to 4:00 time frame.
That feeling when you secure your first top ? win ?????? #ToGodbetheGlory pic.twitter.com/sxNpB4AD0s
— Christopher Eubanks (@chris_eubanks96) July 28, 2017
THAT’S IT!!! A DOUBLE FAULT SEALS THE UPSET FOR EUBANKS!!! #BBTAO pic.twitter.com/Vn8DcHlATE
— GT Men’s Tennis (@GT_MTEN) July 28, 2017
The man @chris_eubanks96 wins again ! pic.twitter.com/eQbS9dYetq
— Joe (@ProdigyRep) July 28, 2017
.@chris_eubanks96 had good reason to celebrate after making his first ATP QF at the @BBTatlantaopen. https://t.co/U2hkQeTFr9 #USOpenSeries pic.twitter.com/khodqhZJLN
— USTA (@usta) July 28, 2017
All four of the semifinalists at the USA F25 Futures in Champaign, Illinois, have college ties with Illinois rising senior Aleks Vukic, Dennis Nevolo (Illinois ’12), Jeffrey Schorsch (Valparaiso ’17), and Deiton Baughman (USC volunteer assistant) picking up quarterfinal wins on Thursday.
Vukic hits an ace to seal a spot in the semifinals with a 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 win over Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/VX87x0vAOp
— IlliniProTennis (@IlliniProTennis) July 27, 2017
Vukic came back from a 6-2, 4-2 deficit to defeat Argentina’s Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 in 2 hours and 50 minutes. Vukic actually won two fewer points in the match (102 to 100) and only won 39% of the points on his second serve but he was able to win the key points and that made the difference. Vukic will face the fourth seed Dennis Nevolo after the 2012 Illinois graduate defeated the seventh seed Mexico’s Manuel Sanchez 6-2, 6-3 in 1 hour and 23 minutes.
Schorsch advanced to his first career semifinal after holding off Illinois rising sophomore Zeke Clark 6-4, 7-6(7) in 2 hours and 24 minutes. Schorsch jumped out to a double break 4-1 lead in the opening set and despite giving one of the breaks back he’d hold on to take it 6-4. In the second set, Schorsch went ahead 2-0 but Clark won the next three, including a break of Schorsch in a six-deuce game, to go in front 3-2. Schorsch broke for 4-3 but Clark broke back and held for 5-4. Schorsch held and broke for 6-5 but Clark broke from 30/40 to send it to a tiebreak. Schorsch would lead 4-2 at the changeover and would have a match point at 6-5 but Clark won both points on his serve to go in front 7-6. Schorsch took the final three points to close it out 9-7.
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Baughman advanced to the semifinals for the second tournament in a row after a pretty straight forward 6-4, 6-1 win over Liam Caruana. Baughman hit 11 aces (0 double faults) and won 86% of the points on his first serve while he broke Caruana’s serve five times.
Baughman will also be playing in the doubles final after he and Farris Gosea (Illinois ’15) defeated Strong Kirchheimer (Northwestern ’17) and Riley Smith (USC rising soph) 6-2, 5-7, 10-8. Baughman and Gosea will meet Harrison Adams (Texas A&M ’16) and Yates Johnson (SMU ’17) with those two defeating Gustav Hansson (Ole Miss rising senior) and Cameron Silverman (Elon ’14) 7-5, 5-7, 10-5.
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