July 27, 2016
ATLANTA – In a decisive third set, Georgia Tech men’s tennis rising junior Christopher Eubanks won the BB&T Atlanta Wild Card Challenge, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1, in the finals over Zac Dunkle on Wednesday afternoon in Atlantic Station. He will represent the greater Atlanta area in the qualifying round of singles at the BB&T Atlanta Open this weekend.
“I knew it was going to be tough coming in, Zac has been playing well all summer” said Eubanks. “I feel like the best thing that I could do was just to stay with him as long as I could and take advantage of any edge I could get. I think I was able to rebound at the end of the second set after dropping that first one and managed to hold on to that and ride that momentum the rest of the match.”
It was a back and forth match from the start. Dunkle nabbed the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-5. Eubanks gathered his momentum towards the end of the second set, taking three consecutive games to win the set, 6-3, and send it to a third. He held his momentum in the final set, defeating Dunkle, 6-1, and claiming his spot in the qualifier.
In the semifinals on Tuesday afternoon, Eubanks faced a familiar face in teammate Cole Fiegel.
“We practice together and hit together probably more than any two teammates around the country. We know each other’s games extremely well. We warmed up together before our match,” said Eubanks. “I think it was such a good match because we knew each other so well.”
Fiegel and Eubanks battled it out though three sets. Eubanks claimed the first set of the match, 6-3. Cole rebounded and swiftly took the second, 6-1, forcing a decisive third set. Eubanks was able to finish strong, winning the final set, 6-1, to advance to the finals on Wednesday against Zac Dunkle.
Eubanks’ BB&T Atlanta Open qualifier will be this weekend in Atlantic Station. He also faces-off in doubles with Georgia State’s Zack Kennedy as his partner on Tuesday, August 2 in the main draw of doubles.
“I’m hoping to go out there and play as well as I am capable of. If I do that, who know what can happen and that’s all I can ask of myself,” said Eubanks of playing this coming weekend. “Doubles is going to be one of the most fun things I’ve ever done, because I’m playing with a good friend of mine. College night we are hoping to have a big crowd with Georgia, Georgia State and Georgia Tech fans all out there.”
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