The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tech’s Eubanks in doubles semifinals
Atlanta native, partner go up against veteran Bryan brothers today.
In 2001, 23-year-olds Mike and Bob Bryan celebrated four years as doubles pros with the first four of their record 106 ATP tour titles.
Christopher Eubanks also celebrated something big in 2001. His fifth birthday. Now 19, Eubanks will play with Donald Young against the Bryan brothers today in the doubles semifinals of the BB&T Atlanta Open.
“It’s a dream come true. You grow up watching (the Bryans) representing us in the Davis Cup, the slams,” Eubanks said after beating Austin Krajicek and Nicholas Monroe in the quarterfinals. “When you’re playing doubles in junior tournaments, you imitate the chest bump; you do all that type of stuff. So it’s going to be really cool actually playing against them. I can’t wait to get out there and show what I can do.”
Eubanks, an Atlanta native, earned the college wild card for this year’s Atlanta Open. He lost to No. 144 Radek Stepanek 6-2, 6-2 in his first singles match.
As a freshman last year at
Georgia Tech, Eubanks climbed to No. 53 in the country and led Tech to its first NCAA team championship appearance since 2011. He also got an at-large bid to the NCAA singles championship, where he won his first match.
“This is a once-in-alifetime chance that millions of people would give anything to be able to play in this tournament (and) be in the semis of doubles,” Eubanks said. “So I’m just taking it and running with it as best as I can.”
Martin Blackman, the USTA general manager of player development, said the future of American tennis relies in part on developing college players such as Eubanks.
“There’s no other country in the world that has the opportunity of pursuing and developing in your sport and getting a great education at the same time,” Blackman said. “So, I think even though our focus is developing worldclass players, pro players, that pathway of trying to play college tennis is what we’re promoting at the youngest age. And then when players get to be 15, 16, 17, then it becomes pretty apparent as to whether they have that potential, whether they’re on track to become a pro.”
Kudla in semifinals: Denis Kudla advanced to his first career semifinal on the ATP Tour with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Dudi Sela in the BB&T Atlanta Open on Friday at Atlantic Station.
Kudla, who was 0-2 in quarterfinals in his career, likely will move into the top-80 of next week’s rankings, also a career high for the 22-year-old American.
Kudla knocked off third-seeded Jack Sock on Thursday before needing only 61 minutes to defeat Sela, last year’s finalist, in one of the shorter matches this week. Kudla is the first qualifier to reach the semifinals in Atlanta since 2010.
“It’s incredible to have that by your name,” Kudla said. “I felt like I belonged in the main draw. I didn’t expect a wildcard. I knew going into qualies I could make a big run here.”
Kudla will face the winner of the match between two-time defending champ John Isner and Ricardas Berankis today. At No. 19, Isner is the top-ranked American. He and Kudla practice together but have never faced each other in a match.
Kudla said facing Isner won’t be easy, but “to play the top American, you want your shot at that guy.”
Kudla changed coaches during the spring to Billy Heiser. Since that change he has improved to 17-2, including reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon. He was the first American to advance that far since 2012.