Matt Ebden has been defeated in a tight second round match by Roberto Bautista Agut at the ATP Topshelf Open in ‘s-Hertogensbosch, The Netherlands.
The Australian, ranked No. 86 in the world, will rue missing out on an excellent opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals. Ebden had worked himself in to a 4-0 and 5-2 lead in the opening set, and then a 4-1 lead in the second set, only to go down 7-5 7-6(1).
The tournament’s third seed, Bautista Agut, will move forward and play seventh seed Nicolas Mahut in the final eight.
Ebden’s eight double faults in the 1 hr, 45min match will be a cause for concern moving ahead to the third grand slam of the year at The All England Club next week.
Despite the loss, Ebden will be encouraged and take confidence from his two performances in ‘s-Hertogensbosch. The West Aussie will join compatriots Lleyton Hewitt, Marinko Matosevic, Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios in the main draw at Wimbledon.
The draw for Wimbledon will take place on Friday.