“It was incredible, it is kind of tough to put it into words,” Chris Eubanks said after winning his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Leon.

But, to understand the 21-year-old’s recent ATP Challenger Tour success in Mexico, you first have to acknowledge the process. For Eubanks, that means revisiting his college roots at Georgia Tech. Eubanks spent three years building his game at the Atlanta-based university before turning pro just five months ago.

“[College] instilled the game style I have now,” said Eubanks. “Playing a big game and being committed to it has probably been the biggest [factor].”

Dividing attention between studies and court time may have led to an unwanted dilemma for many, but, after recent successes, the Georgia native now sees the benefits of his demanding college schedule.

“With Georgia Tech being a pretty tough academic school, being able to manage my time pretty well has also been a huge asset to me and I have to attribute a lot of that to Georgia Tech,” said Eubanks.

That mix of experience, blended with newfound levels of professionalism, has led the 6’7” star to success during back-to-back Challenger events in Mexico. Eubanks has broken into the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career after a runner-up finish in Guadalajara and a first crown in Leon.

Eubanks won four matches to reach his first Challenger final in Guadalajara two weeks ago, before losing to El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4). But, not to be deterred by the disappointment of coming so close to achieving a landmark win, Eubanks once again put himself back in position to clinch his maiden title the very next week in Leon.

The American dropped just one set en route to the final, which was once again decided in a third-set tie-break. This time, Eubanks capitalised on his chance, defeating Australia’s John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4) to lift the trophy.

“To come back the next week and finish it off with a good performance was incredible,” reflected Eubanks. “I will remember it for the rest of my life.”

He’s done it! @chris_eubanks96 claims his first #ATPChallenger title, edging John-Patrick Smith 64 36 76(4) in Leon. pic.twitter.com/PJAFhE7QGd

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) April 29, 2018

Eubanks, who only started competing outside of his home country in February, was surprised by the speed of his success en route to a first title at Challenger level, but admitted he believed it was always a possibility.

“I didn’t think I would have the success this quickly, but I knew I had a pretty big game and on any given day you never know what can happen,” he added. “The serve was the big thing. I was serving really well and I found myself playing pretty confidently from the ground. The serve from the very first day felt incredible, so I think I have to attribute a lot of my success to the serve.”

However, there was one final factor to Eubanks’ success story: his new fans in Mexico. The American was clear in his belief that the support he received on his two-week trip played a major part in his success.

“The fans in Guadalajara were awesome [and] the fans in Leon were awesome. They really cheered me on,” said Eubanks. “Mexico in general has been great. I have really enjoyed my time down here and I look forward to coming back.”

Stan Wawrinka, recovering from a calf injury, is eyeing the Internazionali BNL D’Italia in Rome as his return event.

The 32-year-old said he withdrew from next week’s Mutua Madrid Open, where he was a finalist in 2013 (l. to Nadal), to ensure a full recovery. Wawrinka also confirmed he has been practising with former coach Magnus Norman in preparation for his return.

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— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) April 27, 2018

“I gave up on returning to Madrid next week as a sheer precaution. I lost 10 days of training due to a calf injury,” Wawrinka said. “Now I’m on a block of two weeks of training with the help of Magnus Norman. My goal is to get back to my best. I think I can do it in the long run. I’m training at 100 per cent. The knee is okay. I’m sure I’ll see the end of the tunnel.”

Wawrinka’s last match was at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, where he retired against Ilya Ivashka in the second set. The former World No. 3 was also forced to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open presented by Itau in order to continue his recovery from a knee injury that required two surgeries in August 2017.

Wawrinka confirmed Friday he’ll play at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad in July for the first time since 2013.

The Swiss finished his 2017 season with a 26-11 record, including one ATP World Tour title in Geneva (d. M. Zverev). He also reached the final at the BNP Paribas Open (l. to Federer) and at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal).

If his recovery remains on track, Wawrinka added that he may take a wild card into another event ahead of Roland Garros.

“If I have the feeling that I need more matches I could ask for a wild card in Geneva or Lyon,” Wawrinka said.

Get the popcorn ready! Two-time former champion Novak Djokovic, who is looking to return to top form, is set to face in-form Kei Nishikori in a blockbuster first-round match-up at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Djokovic, reunited with his long-time coach Marian Vajda for the clay-court swing, will have to be immediately match-sharp at the Caja Mágica when he meets Nishikori, the recent Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters finalist (l. to Nadal). Djokovic, leads Nishikori 11-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, but their last red dirt meeting went to three sets at the 2016 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, which Djokovic won 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) for a place in the final.  Nishikori has reached the Madrid quarter-finals (or better) in each of the past five years, including a 2014 runner-up finish.

Tenth seed Djokovic, who captured the 2011 and 2016 Madrid titles, and Nishikori have been drawn in the bottom half. The winner could potentially meet eighth seed David Goffin in the third round and third seed Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals. After a first-round bye, Goffin will meet Robin Haase (on 199 match wins) or Hyeon Chung, who is through to this week’s BMW Open by FWU semi-finals. Dimitrov will challenge Milos Raonic or a qualifier in his first match. World No. 5 Dimitrov has won three of his four matches against Raonic, including a 7-6(7), 6-2 victory at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. 

In another tasty first-round clash, 2012 runner-up and No. 14 seed Tomas Berdych squares off against Richard Gasquet, who returned to form last month in Monte-Carlo with a quarter-final run (l. to Zverev 7-5 in the third set). Berdych leads Gasquet 9-7 in their series. Fernando Verdasco, a two-time quarter-finalist, will go for the 500th match win of his career against Paolo Lorenzi. 

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In the top half of the draw, Dominic Thiem and Juan Martin del Potro could potentially be roadblocks in Rafael Nadal’s attempt to clinch a sixth title in Madrid, which will help him to retain No. 1 in the ATP Rankings. The Spanish superstar, who has reached the Madrid final on nine previous occasions, could meet 2017 runner-up Thiem in the quarter-finals and Del Potro in the semi-finals.

Nadal, who has already swept to 11th titles at both the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Nishikori) and Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Tsitsipas) in recent weeks, is riding a 19-match winning streak on clay and has been drawn to meet Gael Monfils or a qualifier in the second round. The 31-year-old is 45-7 lifetime in Madrid, with title runs in 2008, 2010, 2013-14 and 2017, in addition to runner-up finishes in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2015.

Fourth seed Del Potro, appearing in Madrid for the eighth time, is competing for the first time since John Isner ended his 15-match winning streak in the Miami Open presented by Itau semi-finals. The Argentine, who will play Julien Benneteau or Damir Dzumhur in the second round, captured back-to-back ATP World Tour titles at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel (d. Anderson) and the BNP Paribas Open (d. Federer). He has advanced to the Madrid semi-finals on two occasions (2009 and 2012).

Fifth seed Thiem, who last year contested four clay-court matches against Nadal during the spring European clay swing (Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros), will be hoping to return to top form, starting with a second-round tie against Mischa Zverev or a qualifier. Three weeks ago, Nadal beat Thiem 6-0, 6-2 in the Monte-Carlo quarter-finals.

Second seed Alexander Zverev, who reached the quarter-finals last year (l. to Cuevas), will play in-form #NextGenATP Stefanos Tsitsipas, the recent Barcelona runner-up, or a qualifier. Seventh seed John Isner, winner of his first Masters 1000 crown in Miami, goes up against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or compatriot Ryan Harrison in the second round.

Malek Jaziri is one match win away from reaching his first ATP World Tour final at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. The 34-year-old knocked out seventh-seeded Czech Jiri Vesely 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 55 minutes on Friday.

“It was a really important win, as I didn’t feel that I was playing good tennis,” admitted Jaziri. “I didn’t feel good or comfortable right from the start. He served well and played good tennis, so I was making more mistakes. I tried to put more balls in court and competed for every point. I began to feel better and when I broke back at the end of the second set the match completely changed.”

The Tunisian, who recorded the second Top 10 win of his career on Thursday with victory over top seed and defending champion Marin Cilic in the second round, sets up a first-time meeting against fifth-seeded Italian Paolo Lorenzi or Laslo Djere of Serbia.

France’s Jeremy Chardy is close to ending a nine-year wait for a shot at a tour-level singles title after he defeated Thomas Fabbiano 6-2, 6-2 in 77 minutes. The 31-year-old Chardy contested two finals in 2009, winning the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart (d. Hanescu) and finishing runner-up at Johannesburg (l. to Tsonga).

He’ll now challenge Japan’s Taro Daniel, who fought back from an 0-4 deficit in the deciding set to beat Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and five minutes for a place in his first ATP World Tour semi-finals. Two months ago, as a qualifier, World No. 114 Daniel recorded the biggest win of his career over Novak Djokovic in the BNP Paribas Open third round.

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Malek Jaziri dropped to No. 118 in the ATP Rankings on 12 February, but with a run to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semi-finals (d. Dimitrov in 1R, l. to Bautista Agut) he began his climb. The World No. 78 achieved his career-high of No. 47 on 13 February 2017.

Rafael Nadal has once again hit top form on European clay and over the next two weeks — at the Mutua Madrid Open and at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia — and he may, potentially, complete a clean sweep of red dirt titles to take the lead in the 2018 ATP Race To London.

Just three weeks ago, the Spanish superstar sat at No. 40 in the ATP Race To London (360 points), but with 11th titles at both the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Nishikori) and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Tsitsipas), Nadal has risen to third place (1,860 points).

The 31-year-old is now behind first-placed Roger Federer (3,110 points) and second-placed Juan Martin del Potro (2,120), ahead of two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. Nadal has won Madrid, where he has a 47-10 record, on five occasions and Rome, where he is 51-6 overall, seven times.

With a maximum of 1,500 ATP Rankings points from two clay-court events this year, it’s worth highlighting that in 2017, Nadal accrued 2,680 points in four tournaments between 10 April and 22 May 2017. So, on the eve of Roland Garros, which begins on 27 May, there is a chance that he will lead the ATP Race To London.

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While there are three clear leaders at the top, look a little further down the standings and the Race is really close, with Alexander Zverev, in fifth place (1,285), leading 16th-placed Fabio Fognini (800) by less than 500 points. A big run in Madrid or Rome will give up to 12 players an opportunity to firmly embed themselves in the Top 10, and a chance to secure a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 11-18 November.

Defending champion Grigor Dimitrov sits in seventh position on 1,255 points, while 12th-placed Kyle Edmund (945 points), a Briton bidding to qualify for the first time, has started the season strongly with an Australian Open semi-final run (l. to Cilic) and a runner-up finish at the Grand Prix Hassan II (l. to Andujar).

A familiar face, Kei Nishikori, who has competed at the season finale on three previous occasions (2014-16), is bouncing back after overcoming a right wrist injury. Three months ago, Nishikori captured the sixth ATP Challenger Tour title of his career at The RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas. Now, after a run to the Monte-Carlo final, the Japanese star is 15th in the ATP Race To London (835 points). He reached his first of four Masters 1000 finals at Madrid in 2014 (l. to Nadal).

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