ATP roundup: Christopher Eubanks dominates in Dallas opener

Field Level Media|published: Tue 6th February, 23:36 2024

Aug 30, 2023; Flushing, NY, USA; Christopher Eubanks of the United States hits a shot against Benjamin Bonzi of France on day three of the 2023 U.S. Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. credits: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

No. 5 seed Christopher Eubanks fired 10 aces, had a 29-14 edge in receiving winners and saved all four break points he faced as he defeated qualifier Steve Johnson in first-round action at the Dallas Open on Tuesday.

Eubanks, who made a surprise run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals last summer, will face Australia's James Duckworth in the next round as he seeks consecutive wins for the first time in 2024. Duckworth was a 7-6 (3), 6-1 winner over Zachary Svajda.

Alex Michelsen, 19, outlasted qualifier Tennys Sandgren 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 and will face No. 1 seed Frances Tiafoe in the round of 16.

Other winners Tuesday included Michael Mmoh, Marcos Giron, Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka, Australia's Jordan Thompson and Germany's eighth-seeded Dominik Koepfer.

Open 13 Provence

No. 5 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain rallied past France's Gregoire Barrere 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to notch his 100th career ATP-level win in the first round in Marseille.

Barrere had a dominant serve, with eight aces and a 40-for-49 first-service win rate (81.6 percent), but Davidovich Fokina saved five of seven break points while breaking Barrere's serve three times in four chances.

No. 8 seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic also dropped his first set before beating Belgian qualifier David Goffin 3-6 7-5, 6-2.

Another Czech player, Tomas Machac, beat British star Andy Murray 7-5, 6-4. Sebastian Korda, China's Zhizhen Zhang and Frenchmen Hugo Gaston and Arthur Rinderknech were also victorious.

Cordoba Open

Playing on his home soil in Argentina, Federico Coria upset German fifth seed Daniel Altmaier 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 44 minutes during first-round play in Argentina.

Coria served up five aces with five double faults, while Altmaier suffered six double faults without an ace.

In two all-Argentine battles, qualifier Roman Andres Burruchaga took down Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 and Thiago Agustin Tirante defeated Francisco Comesana 6-1, 7-6 (4). Other winners included Spaniards Roberto Carballes Baena (No. 8 seed) and Bernabe Zapata Miralles, Italian qualifier Luciano Darderi and Germany's Yannick Hanfmann (No. 7 seed).

—Field Level Media

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