The Italian Open is here and is ready to serve us with delicious tennis action. Chris Eubanks and Terence Atmane will face each other in the round of 128 as they hope to improve upon their performances on clay. Eubanks has played in two ATP Tour clay court tournaments and one clay court challenger and has only managed to win one set.
Atmane attempted to qualify for the Madrid Open but lost in the first round. He failed to go past round 1 in the Aix-En Province Challenger and the second round in the Oeiras III Challenger.
Chris Eubanks vs Terence Atmane: Preview
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Chris Eubanks played in the Cagliari Challenger round of 16 against Daniel Galan and lost 6-3, 2-6, 2-6. Eubanks hit 3 aces and 2 double faults. He managed to win 59% of points on first serve and 35% on second serve. He won 5 out of 11 break points and gave away 8 out of 10. Eubanks won 37 out of 80 receiving points. His control under pressure and difficulty with converting return points became a part of his downfall.
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Terence Atmane cleared two qualifying rounds to find himself in the main draw of the Rome Masters. He defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-5, 7-6 and Harold Mayot 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Atmane hit 10 aces and 7 double faults and averaged 76% of points on first serve and 57% of points on second serve. He took 4 break points from both players while only giving 3 to Mayot. Return became challenging for him as he only managed 30 wins on Mayot’s serve.
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Eubanks vs Atmane: Head-to-Head
Terence Atmane and Chris Eubanks have never played against each other on the ATP Tour. The two will have a first-ever match in their career, which will have the added difficulty of playing on a clay court. Those in the stands will also experience the two hard court specialists navigating around each other’s strategy on a much slower surface.
Prediction: Eubanks to move ahead in Rome
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Chris Eubanks has not managed to make it past his first appearance in seven tournaments this year. The American player is not able to show the form that helped him climb to the top 50 so far. However, his opponent has struggled greatly in main draws. He has managed to show his skills in the qualifiers, but the mental pressure of main draws has held him back.
Terence Atmane’s serve has shown more promise than Eubanks’, which can be a weapon against the American star. Furthermore, Atmane has almost 4 times as many wins as Eubanks on clay, which can help his form on the court. However, the final result will depend on their form when going to Rome. The 28-year-old American will win his fourth match this year, but his French opponent has the chance of attaining his first main draw victory this season.