Australia’s problem for singles glory at Wimbledon has ended earlier than the primary week is out after final man standing Chris O’Connell was blitzed at SW19.
The Sydneysider, who’d loved one other breakthrough week in his profitable 2023 marketing campaign, lastly went out to American high-flyer Chris Eubanks 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) on a rain-hit Saturday.
O’Connell’s departure, after being outplayed and out-hit in three tiebreaks, means Australia will not have a singles consultant within the second week of the grass-court grand slam for the primary time in 5 years.
The final, considerably stunning survivor of the ten Australians who’d entered the primary draw, O’Connell, searching for to succeed in the fourth spherical of a grand slam for the primary time, once more produced an admirable efficiency in his tough stop-start week as he discovered himself in motion for the fifth successive day.
But as soon as once more, the person who had taken three days simply to win a first-round match held over by fixed stoppages, was compelled into one other tough contest which featured two rain interruptions.
The actual issue, although, lay within the large serve of 27-year-old Eubanks, a 2.01m streak of lightning from Atlanta whose stand up the rankings this season has seen him changing into more and more feted within the US, with even Hollywood celebrity Jamie Foxx now backing him.
He rained down 23 aces and 50 unreturned serves to continually have O’Connell on the again foot, however although there wasn’t a fantastic deal to decide on between the pair in a serve-dominated contest, it was the world No.43’s booming assaults on key factors that proved the distinction in opposition to the No.73.
Hitting 5 large backhand service return winners on essential factors successfully took the racquet out of the Australian’s palms as he dominated every tiebreak with growing authority on Court 18.
Apart from briefly swapping breaks within the first set, the possibilities have been few and much between for O’Connell, who’d crushed Eubanks in a Challenger occasion in Korea final yr.
No presence within the second week for Australia – which additionally occurred on the final grand slam, the French Open in Paris – is a far cry from 2022 when 4 gamers – eventual finalist Nick Kyrgios, Jason Kubler, Alex de Minaur and Ajla Tomljanovic – all made the last-16.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
