# Chris Eaton (tennis)

Christopher Philip Eaton (born 27 November 1987) is a British retired tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 317 in June 2009, and his career-high doubles ranking of World No. 147 in May 2011. Eaton is currently the assistant coach at Wake Forest University.
In February 2009, Eaton played what was then the longest tennis match in history, lasting 6 hours and 40 minutes, eventually beating James Ward 21–19 in the fifth set. This was a playoff match to decide the Davis Cup team, but it was not sanctioned by the ATP, so was not an official record, and it was later broken.

## Early and personal life

He learned to play tennis at Reed's School. He was nicknamed the "Eaton Rifle" due to his big serve.
From age 8 to 16, he was coached by Justin Sherring.

## Junior career

Eaton reached a career high of No. 97 in April 2005 at age 17. In his only singles main draw junior grand slam match, and his final match as a junior, he lost to Donald Young at Wimbledon in 2005, 1–6, 5–7.

## Senior career
### 2007

Eaton's best results in 2007 were two Futures championships in doubles in Israel and Great Britain, and a singles semifinal appearance in Israel F4 in November, where he beat No. 839 Amir Hadad. He finished 2007 ranked No. 656 in singles play.

### 2008

Eaton made little singles progress in the first 4 months of the year. However, he had much success in doubles, making the doubles finals of 5 Futures and winning two of them.
In June, he had a breakthrough singles win in the 2nd round of qualifying at Nottingham, beating his first top-100 opponent, No. 90 Guillermo García López, before losing to No. 111 Vince Spadea in the final qualifying round. He followed that up the next week as a wild card by qualifying in singles for the Wimbledon Championships, beating No. 140 Mikhail Kukushkin, No. 206 Jan Minář, and No. 162 Olivier Patience, scoring 32 aces in that match. He was also given a wild card into the main doubles draw with Alexander Slabinsky.
In the Wimbledon Championships first round he beat Serbia's Boris Pasanski 6–3 7–6(8–6) 6–4. He then faced Russia's Dmitry Tursunov, the number 25 seed in the second round on Court One, his first show-court appearance. However, he could not continue his winning streak and Eaton lost 6–7(2), 2–6, 4–6. As a result of his performance at Wimbledon, Eaton's ranking rose to a career high of 386. This made him eligible for Challenger events.

### 2009

Having played little more than a few Futures at the start of the year, Eaton was thrust into play-offs, between six British tennis hopefuls, designed by John Lloyd to help pick the two singles players to represent Great Britain in the Euro/Africa Zone Group I tie against Ukraine.
Eaton started well, defeating Alexander Slabinsky 6–4 6–4 2–6 7–6 (7–5). He then beat James Ward 6–3 6–2 6–7 (3–7) 2–6 21–19 in a gruelling match lasting six hours and 40 minutes, making it the longest match in history prior to the epic Isner-Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. Lloyd had decided he had seen enough, and chose Eaton and Joshua Goodall as the two players to represent Britain alongside Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins.
Eaton lost his first Davis Cup match 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 to Ukrainian number 1 Sergiy Stakhovsky but managed to restore some pride to Team GB, who were on the verge of a whitewash before Eaton managed to beat Illya Marchenko 6–3, 4–6, 7–6 in the remaining dead rubber. Despite putting in one of the better performances by British players other than Andy Murray in the Davis Cup recently, Eaton didn't appear in the plans of captain John Lloyd for forthcoming fixtures.

### 2010

At Wimbledon Eaton and doubles partner Dominic Inglot defeated the defending champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić in the second round, to achieve his best Slam result with a third round appearance.
Eaton began playing touchtennis as a pastime against other former professional tennis players as well as current park players and rank amateurs. He has won one title and hosted a weekly tennis phone in show on the sports website.
Eaton played his last match in the 2012 Wimbledon qualifying second round. He joined the Wake Forest men's tennis staff as an assistant coach in the 2016–17 season.
He coaches doubles player Henri Kontinen.

## ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
### Singles: 4 (3–1)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (0–0)
* ITF Futures (3–1)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (2–0)
* Clay (0–0)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (1–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Jan 2010 | Great Britain F1, Glasgow | Futures | Hard | Jamie Baker | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Jan 2011 | Germany F3, Kaarst | Futures | Carpet | Jan Mertl | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Win | 2–1 | Apr 2011 | Switzerland F3, Taverne | Futures | Carpet | Peter Torebko | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 3–1 | Jul 2011 | Great Britain F11, Chiswick | Futures | Hard | Benjamin Mitchell | 7–5, 6–1 |

### Doubles: 38 (23–15)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (1–1)
* ITF Futures (22–14)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (23–10)
* Clay (0–0)
* Grass (2–3)
* Carpet (1–2)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Mar 2006 | China F4, Jiangmen | Futures | Hard | Andrew Kennaugh | Yu Xinyuan Zeng Shaoxuan | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Jun 2006 | Turkey F2, Istanbul | Futures | Hard | Andrew Kennaugh | Victor Kolik Ishay Hadash | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 1–2 | Mar 2007 | Israel F2, Ramat HaSharon | Futures | Hard | Amit Inbar | Roman Vögeli Alexander Satschko | 7–5, 6–2 |
| Win | 2–2 | Aug 2007 | Great Britain F14, Wrexham | Futures | Hard | Pierrick Ysern | Edward Corrie Tom Rushby | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Jan 2008 | Great Britain F2, Sheffield | Futures | Hard | Ken Skupski | Jiří Krkoška Purav Raja | 6–7$^{(7–9)}$, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$ |
| Win | 3–3 | Feb 2008 | Croatia F1, Zagreb | Futures | Hard | Mait Künnap | Pierre-Ludovic Duclos Denis Matsukevich | 2–6, 7–5, [10–8] |
| Win | 4–3 | Mar 2008 | Portugal F5, Lagos | Futures | Hard | Carsten Ball | Neil Bamford Josh Goodall | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Loss | 4–4 | Mar 2008 | Portugal F6, Albufeira | Futures | Hard | Amir Weintraub | Neil Bamford Josh Goodall | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 4–5 | Apr 2008 | Russia F1, Moscow | Futures | Carpet | Alexander Slabinsky | Sergei Demekhine Konstantin Kravchuk | 1–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 4–6 | Sep 2008 | France F13, Bagnères-de-Bigorre | Futures | Hard | Pierrick Ysern | Olivier Charroin Andis Juška | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Win | 5–6 | Jan 2009 | Great Britain F1, Glasgow | Futures | Hard | Jamie Baker | Romain Jouan Pierrick Ysern | 7–5, 6–0 |
| Win | 6–6 | Aug 2009 | Great Britain F10, Ilkley | Futures | Grass | Martin Fischer | Sadik Kadir Purav Raja | 7–5, 3–6, [10–6] |
| Loss | 6–7 | Aug 2009 | Great Britain F11, Ottershaw | Futures | Hard | Jamie Baker | Dominic Inglot Tim Bradshaw | 6–4, 6–7$^{(2–7)}$, [3–10] |
| Loss | 6–8 | Aug 2009 | India F7, New Delhi | Futures | Hard | Sean Thornley | Ashutosh Singh Vishnu Vardhan | 3–6, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, [8–10] |
| Win | 7–8 | Sep 2009 | India F9, New Delhi | Futures | Hard | Rohan Gajjar | Ashutosh Singh Vishnu Vardhan | 7–6$^{(8–6)}$, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$ |
| Win | 8–8 | Sep 2009 | Great Britain F13, Wrexham | Futures | Hard | Dominic Inglot | Andrew Anderson Colin O'Brien | 3–6, 6–3, [10–6] |
| Win | 9–8 | Sep 2009 | Great Britain F14, Nottingham | Futures | Hard | Dominic Inglot | Josh Goodall Matthew Illingworth | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 10–8 | Oct 2009 | Great Britain F15, Glasgow | Futures | Hard | Dominic Inglot | Daniel Cox Uladzimir Ignatik | 6–0, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| Win | 11–8 | Jan 2010 | Great Britain F1, Glasgow | Futures | Hard | Dominic Inglot | Olivier Charroin Alexandre Renard | 4–6, 6–3, [10–2] |
| Loss | 11–9 | Jan 2010 | Great Britain F2, Sheffield | Futures | Hard | Dominic Inglot | Olivier Charroin Andis Juška | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 12–9 | Feb 2010 | Bosnia & Herzegovina F2, Sarajevo | Futures | Carpet | Dominic Inglot | Colin O'Brien James McGee | walkover |
| Loss | 12–10 | Jul 2010 | Great Britain F10, Frinton | Futures | Grass | Josh Goodall | Tim Bradshaw James Ludlow | 4–6, 7–6$^{(9–7)}$, [7–10] |
| Win | 13–10 | Jan 2011 | Great Britain F1, Glasgow | Futures | Hard | Alexander Slabinsky | Harri Heliövaara Juho Paukku | 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, 6–1, [10–2] |
| Win | 14–10 | Jan 2011 | Great Britain F2, Sheffield | Futures | Hard | Josh Goodall | Olivier Charroin Vincent Stouff | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Loss | 14–11 | Jan 2011 | Germany F3, Kaarst | Futures | Carpet | Alexander Slabinsky | Marcel Zimmermann Kevin Krawietz | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 15–11 | Mar 2011 | Great Britain F3, Tipton | Futures | Hard | Josh Goodall | Miles Bugby Marcus Willis | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 16–11 | Mar 2011 | Great Britain F4, Bath | Futures | Hard | Josh Goodall | Michael Lammer Alexander Sadecky | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 16–12 | May 2011 | Leon, Mexico | Challenger | Hard | Andre Begemann | Rajeev Ram Bobby Reynolds | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 17–12 | Jul 2011 | Great Britain F8, Manchester | Futures | Grass | Josh Goodall | Malek Jaziri Albano Olivetti | 6–4, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$ |
| Loss | 17–13 | Jul 2011 | Great Britain F9, Ilkley | Futures | Grass | Josh Goodall | Sean Thornley David Rice | 7–6$^{(7–2)}$, 3–6, [7–10] |
| Loss | 17–14 | Jul 2011 | Great Britain F10, Frinton | Futures | Grass | Josh Goodall | Julien Maes Fabrice Martin | 5–7, 6–7$^{(2–7)}$ |
| Win | 18–14 | Sep 2011 | USA F24, Costa Mesa | Futures | Hard | Neal Skupski | Daniel Cox Adam Hubble | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Win | 19–14 | Oct 2011 | USA F26, Austin | Futures | Hard | Edward Corrie | Benjamin Rogers John-Patrick Smith | 7–6$^{(8–6)}$, 6–2 |
| Win | 20–14 | Jan 2012 | Great Britain F1, Glasgow | Futures | Hard | Dominic Inglot | Sean Thornley David Rice | 7–5, 6–2 |
| Win | 21–14 | Jan 2012 | Great Britain F2, Sheffield | Futures | Hard | Dominic Inglot | Sean Thornley David Rice | 6–3, 7–5 |
| Loss | 21–15 | Jan 2012 | Great Britain F3, Birkenhead | Futures | Hard | Lewis Burton | Sean Thornley David Rice | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 22–15 | Feb 2012 | Dallas, United States | Challenger | Hard | Dominic Inglot | Nicholas Monroe Jack Sock | 6–7$^{(6–8)}$, 6–4, [19–17] |
| Win | 23–15 | Mar 2012 | Great Britain F4, Tipton | Futures | Hard | Dominic Inglot | Sean Thornley David Rice | 6–3, 6–4 |