Wow, just wow. We’ve been saying that a lot recently at Tennis Talent, but British players keep coming up with the goods to knock our proverbial socks off.
This time it was the turn of Dan Evans, who has pulled off the biggest Grand Slam win of his career against seventh seed Marin Čilić. The incredible match, which finished 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3, saw Evans fight back from a set down to beat a player in the top ten for only the second time.
“To come through in the last match point was pleasing for me. I struggled with the shade on the court and his pace on the ball was coming through pretty quick, but when the sun went down I got into the match,” Evans said in his post-match interview.
“All the Aussie boys said this court can get quite loud. After the first set there wasn’t much to sing about. But I’m looking forward to Friday… is it Friday?” Yes, Dan, the third round is Friday. You’ll be facing Australian Bernard Tomic, who battled into the next stage by beating Victor Estrella Burgos7-5 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-5).
To make the feat even more astonishing, Evans was also struggling with an eye problem early on in the match – before channeling a reserve of Murray-like grit to overcome the 2014 US Open champion. A slew of unforced errors (69, to be precise) and 16 untaken break points by Čilić also gave Evans a foothold in the game – which he capitalised on in spades.