After saving five match points against Lloyd Harris in a dramatic semi-final victory at the Mallorca Championships on Friday, Christopher Eubanks left no doubt in Saturday’s final.
Playing in his first ATP Tour final, the American powered to a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Adrian Mannarino. Eubanks did not face a break point in the match and closed out his third Top 50 win in just over an hour at the ATP 250. Behind his title triumph, Eubanks is set to debut inside the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings himself at No. 43 entering Wimbledon.
“It means the world. It just means the world, man,” Eubanks said post-match, later adding that serving and the fan support keyed his run. “It means a lot of the hard work I’ve been putting in, the ups and downs throughout my career, it all is coming together now at this point in my career. It’s just a testament to the hard work. Now I just want to keep working even harder to feel this feeling even more.”
[BREAK POINT]
With Frances Tiafoe’s Stuttgart title run in June, Eubanks’ triumph marks the first time two Americans have won grass titles in the lead-up to Wimbledon since 1984 (John McEnroe at The Queen’s Club, Johan Kriek in Bristol).
Now set to enter the Top 50, Eubanks’ rise up the Pepperstone ATP Rankings received a major boost at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March, when he came through qualifying to reach the quarter-finals — his first time beyond the second round at an ATP Masters 1000. He also beat Mannarino in the Miami fourth round and now holds a 2-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head advantage against the Frenchman.
The 27-year-old is set to make his Wimbledon main-draw debut next week, and he will be full of confidence on the London lawns.
“To come into my first Wimbledon with my first ATP title is something that if you had told me when I showed up last Thursday that it would happen, I probably wouldn’t have believed you,” said the American, who will face Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro in the first round. “But here I am standing here today and I’m looking forward to getting out there on Tuesday.”
With his five match point saves in the Mallorca semis, Eubanks is the sixth ATP Tour champion this season to save match points en route to the title.
2023 ATP Tour Champions To Save Match Point
Player
Event
Round
MPs Saved
Eubanks
Mallorca
SF
5
Djokovic
Adelaide-1
Final
1
Wu
Dallas
Final
4
Hurkacz
Marseille
QF
1
Rune
Munich
Final
4
Tiafoe
Stuttgart
Final
1
Mannarino was denied his third ATP Tour title but will become the No. 1 Frenchman in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings behind his final run. The 35-year-old is set to climb eight places to World No. 35, moving him ahead of Ugo Humbert. Mannarino achieved a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 22 in 2018.