Oct. 14, 2016
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s tennis junior Christopher Eubanks fell in the second round of the Oracle ITA Masters to Kentucky’s No. 15 William Bushamuka, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. Eubanks advanced to the finals of mixed doubles with North Carolina’s Hayley Carter.
After trading the first few games, Eubanks broke out to a 3-1 lead in the first set with a 45-0 win off his service. Bushamuka brought it back within one but Eubanks responded by taking three straight games to secure the first set, 6-2.
Eubanks carried that momentum into the second set, grabbing the first four games before Bushamuka used his service to get one under his belt. The pair traded games to make it 5-2 with the Eubanks having the opportunity to serve for the match point. The Kentucky junior rebounded, coming back to take the set, 7-5 and force a decisive third. Bushamuka kept at it, taking a 3-1 lead in the third. Eubanks stayed in it but the Bushamuka’s momentum carried him through and Eubanks fell, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Friday morning, Eubanks teamed up once again with North Carolina’s Hayley Carter for mixed doubles. The pair advanced to the semifinals with a 6-4 defeat of the pair from Tulsa. The pair took to the courts again on Friday night with lopsided 6-1 birth into the mixed doubles finals.
Eubanks will compete tomorrow in the mixed doubles finals.
Head coach Kenny Thorne says: “Chris played an almost flawless match and was one point away from a decisive victory. Tennis is a crazy sport sometimes. We always evaluate matches afterwards and there were a couple of things he could have executed differently to keep William off guard a little more. But William hung in there and hit some big returns on some key points. Chris will learn from it and move forward. He is doing more things well and they will pay off.”
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