Mallorca Championships: Eubanks reaches first ATP semifinal as Lopez plays final match on Tour

Mallorca (Spain), June 30 (IANS) American star Christopher Eubanks reached his first semifinals on the ATP Tour, defeating French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech 7-6(5), 7-6(4) in the last eight of the Mallorca Championships.

The 27-year-old Eubanks rode on his service when needed despite being broken for the first time in this tournament in Spain. 

It was Eubanks’ third tour-level quarterfinal and he took advantage of his opportunity on the grass. The American hit 10 aces and won 82 per cent of his first-serve points to move on after one hour and 58 minutes.

After this win, Eubanks surged to a career-high No.58 in the ATP Live Rankings and has an opportunity to continue climbing. At the beginning of the season, he was World No. 123 and had not yet broken into the Top 100.

Next up for him will be South African Lloyd Harris, whom Eubanks defeated in three sets last month at a hard-court ATP Challenger Tour event in Gwangju, South Korea.

Harris, a qualifier, eliminated lucky loser Pavel Kotov 7-5, 6-2. The former World No. 31 will try to reach his first ATP Tour final since Dubai in 2021.

In other action, Feliciano Lopez played his final ATP Tour match. The 41-year-old Spaniard, who turned back the clock to reach the quarterfinals, fell to in-form German Yannick Hanfmann 2-6, 4-6, according to a report on the ATP Tour website.

The lefty completed his career with a 506-490 tour-level record, having won more matches on grass (87) than any other Spaniard.

Hanfmann will meet Adrian Mannarino in the other semifinal after the Frenchman defeated countryman Corentin Moutet 7-5, 6-2 in a late match. 

The lone-seeded player in the quarterfinals, Mannarino broke a five-match losing streak in the ATP Tour quarterfinals with the win on his 35th birthday. He is through to his first semifinal of the season and the 21st of his tour-level career.