Newport
Eubanks’ Ace Game Makes Newport SF All-American
With Girone also advancing, four Americans will now be in the Newport semifinals for the first time since 1985.
July 19, 2024
Mike Lawrence/Infosys Hall of Fame Opens
Christopher Eubanks has reached his second tour-level semifinal, both matches played on grass.
By ATP staff
Who doesn’t love Ace games?
Christopher Eubanks narrowly won the Infosys Hall of Fame Open 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3) on Friday after a perfect 3-3 win over Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic to reach a tour-level semifinal for the first time since winning on grass in Mallorca last year.
“Once you get to the line, the first guy goes in, you have a good rhythm,” the American said during an on-court interview at the grass-court ATP 250 in Newport. “Once you get to the second guy, you start thinking, ‘Oh, can I do it again?’
“When you pump your third serve, all of a sudden the crowd starts cheering you on. I knew I was going to have two first serves at 40/0. Luckily, I made my first serve and got a little fist-pumping from the crowd.”
4️⃣ Consecutive🤯🔥@chris_eubanks96
⁰@TennisHalloFame | #InfosysHallofFameOpen pic.twitter.com/6AxZzySOBO— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 19, 2024
The former top-30 player recently dropped to 128th in the PIF ATP Rankings after dropping points in Mallorca and the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last year. He has 8 wins and 15 losses this season.
Eubanks, who had 13 aces and seven double faults, saved six of the eight break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The 28-year-old has risen to No. 105 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and will be back in the top 100 if he makes it to the final.
Eubanks will face Olympic teammate and No. 2 seed Marcos Giron on Saturday, who defeated Australia’s Alex Bolt 6-4, 6-1 to form the first All-American semifinal lineup in Newport since 1985 (Gullickson, Pate, Sadri, Mayotte).
Playing in front of mentor Andre Agassi, who was in attendance for this weekend’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Giron saved all three break points to advance to his seventh semifinal (2-4 record) and third this year (Dallas and Delray Beach).
“Having four Americans in the semifinals is something we love to do, and we’re happy to be here,” said Giron. “I’ve known Chris for a long time, so it’s great to see him step up and do so well this week, and I’m really proud to be teammates with him over the next few weeks.”
With a record of 18 wins and 17 losses on the season, Jiron defeated Bolt in his first match of the Lexus ATP Head2Head to return to a personal best of No. 44 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
In the other semifinal on Saturday, #NextGenATP star Alex Michelson takes on powerhouse Riley Opelka, who is in fine form this week after a lengthy injury hiatus.
