Christopher Eubanks struggles with injury, Gael Monfils also falls in first round at ASB Classic
The American, who was seeded No. 5, struggled physically in a first-round loss to Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Chris Eubanks struggled with a muscle injury before being eliminated from the ATP Auckland Classic in the first round on Monday.
Fifth-seeded Eubanks needed court-side treatment for a glute muscle injury and lost 7-6(5), 6-2 to Botic van de Zandschulp.
It is not yet clear whether the injury will impact Eubanks' Australian Open campaign which begins Sunday in Melbourne.
The big-serving American indicated he was in trouble late in the first set and called for the tour trainer. He received treatment between sets and elected to play out the match. But he looked limited at times and unable to run at full stretch.
Van de Zandschulp converted his third break point in the second game of the second set to lead 2-1 and broke again at 5-2 to take the match at his first opportunity.
"I'm pretty happy with my performance. I think I played a decent level overall," van de Zandschulp said. "Chris is serving amazing and you have to keep up every time. If you don't pay attention for just a couple of seconds you can be broken and it's tough to break him."
Earlier Monday, Daniel Altmaier beat American Marcos Giron 7-6(5), 6-2 and Luca van Assche beat J.J. Wolf 6-4, 6-2.
French veteran Gael Monfils also was beaten in the first round, losing 6-2, 6-7(6), 7-6(4) to Fabian Marozsan of Hungary.
The 37-year-old Monfils at times looked near exhaustion in the latter part of the match, slumping over a chair between points as the match dragged on against an opponent 13 years younger. Yet he kept coming back to win clutch points.
He served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but Marozsan saved and rallied to win the match in the final tiebreaker.
Monfils spent all of the last week court-side in Auckland, following his wife Elina Svitolina as she reached the final of the women's Auckland Classic before losing in three sets to defending champion Coco Gauff.