The BB&T Atlanta Open’s hometown heroes just got a harsh reality check.
The three remaining local players in the tournament lost their quarterfinals matches on Friday. Atlantic Station resident Donald Young lost to Reilly Opelka 6-4, 6-4 on the singles’ side, and college players Christopher Eubanks and Zackery Kennedy lost to Andres Molteni and Horacio Zeballos 7-5, 7-5 in doubles.
Young’s loss to the 18-year-old Opelka ended his best run in his home tournament. Before this edition of the Atlanta Open, he had lost in the opening round five consecutive years.
The No. 7 seed Young battled back and forth with Opelka in the first game and found himself down 4-3 in the set. His fight to come back in the opening set was derailed by both his serve and Opelka’s. Young could never get settled when he was serving, while the 6-foot-11 Opelka repeatedly sent Young scrambling to make contact.
Although Young remained in striking distance in the second set, serves again kept him down. The difference between the two in this aspect was something that remained painfully apparent to the 27-year-old Young afterward.
“I didn’t take care of my serve,” Young said. “That was the key to the match.”
While Young tried to keep up with Opelka, Eubanks and Kennedy were fighting to stay alive in the doubles’ tournament.
The duo were up 3-1 in the first set before Molteni and Zeballos responded to tie the score back at 3-3. The two sides traded games to reach a 5-5 game score when serving issues for Eubanks and Kennedy led to a 7-5 loss in the first set.
The duo nearly matched their opponents step for step in the second sit, again tying the set score 5-5. Once again, Kennedy and Eubanks couldn’t close out the set, resulting in their ouster.
“I don’t think we executed on some of the things we normally do,” Eubanks said. “If we go out there and execute on the little things, we’re probably talking about a different match.”
The loss marks the end of what’s been a valuable opportunity for Eubanks, who is a rising junior at Georgia Tech, and Kennedy, who is approaching his senior season at Georgia State.
The Atlanta Open’s organizers always invite local college players to participate in the tournament’s college night in an effort to get the state’s up-and-comers a chance to see what it takes to play professionally. The difference about this pairing compared to most is they were up to the challenge, having won their opening match over Yoshihito Nishioka and Thiago Monteiro.
The duo now shift their focus back to college, where both will return three weeks from now. Kennedy said his goal for his final year as a Panther is to post his best career record despite the toughest schedule he’s faced at the collegiate level. Eubanks is fresh off being the 2016 ACC Player of the Year, so coming up with a goal to top that is a little more difficult, but he said he wants to further his success as a Yellow Jacket.
Despite not going all the way in the Atlanta Open, both agreed their time in the tournament will benefit them when they return to school.
“We’ve seen the top, so it’s time to go try and dominate down there,” Kennedy said.
