American Christopher Eubanks won the first title of his career by beating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Majorca tournament on Saturday. On the Spanish lawn, Eubanks, 77th player in the world, was playing the first final of his career on the main circuit at the age of 27, where he had never passed the quarter-final stage before this week.
To reach the final in Mallorca, he saved five match points on Friday before beating South African Lloyd Harris (298th) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (11/9). Less experienced than Mannarino (43rd in the world, nine finals, two titles), Eubanks nevertheless immediately took over the match by double-breaking his opponent in the first set, before relying on his size and his service (11 aces ).
Easy winner of the first set in 23 minutes, Eubanks did it again in the second set with a new break from the first game. Mannarino, combative in this more contested second set, did not manage to reverse the advantage taken from the start by the American. Eubanks will enter the Top 50 on Monday for the first time in his career, enough to boost his confidence before the Wimbledon tournament where he will play his first round on Tuesday against the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (96th). For his part, Mannarino will face the Russian Alexander Shevchenko (95th) first.
