WATCH: Christopher Eubanks makes young fans's day at French Open after defeat to Jannik Sinner in French Open 1R with magnanimous gift
Christopher Eubanks of the USA did not have much to cheer for on Monday, May 27, after failing to advance to the second round of the French Open 2024. He lost to World No. 2 Jannik Sinner 3-6, 3-6, 4-6 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
However, the American did not forget to show his generous side following his heart-breaking defeat at the hands of his Italian opponent. After the match, Eubanks went up to a young fan and shook hands with him while also giving him his racket.
Tennis TV uploaded the heartwarming video of Christopher Eubanks and the fan on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption:
“Eubanks giving this fan a memory he’ll cherish forever.”
Christopher Eubanks goes down fighting at Roland Garros
It was never going to be easy for Eubanks to go past Sinner, who has a chance of displacing the legendary Novak Djokovic from the No. 1 spot on the ATP rankings. In their only previous encounter at the 2022 US Open, Sinner beat Eubanks in straight sets.
Eubanks had a chance to make amends at the French Open, however, Sinner did not allow him much breathing space throughout the match. It took the reigning Australian Open champion only two hours and nine minutes to ease past Eubanks.
Sinner converted five out of 10 break point chances which turned out to be a crucial factor in the context of the game. Sinner produced 33 winners, six more than Eubanks, who was also undone by 42 unforced errors. It was only Eubanks's second appearance in the main draw of the French Open.
Sinner returned to the court at the French Open after an injury layoff but the Italian looked in command on the clay, hitting the ball cleanly. Eubanks got 10 chances to break his opponent’s serve but could convert only one of them. The American recently broke into the top 50 in the world rankings on the back of his impressive serves, but Sinner did not allow him to take advantage of them.
Despite struggling with injuries, Sinner has now won 29 out of 31 matches this season. The Italian, however, stated during the post-match press conference that he was not at 100 percent as far as his fitness was concerned.
In the second round on May 29, Jannik Sinner will be up against Richard Gasquet who defeated Borna Coric 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 on Sunday.