A home run
have a holiday Marbella.”
The holiday will be put on hold for a few days more if he can get the better of Alex Zverev, the tall German with the booming serve and huge future, tomorrow. Zverev, all 6ft 6ins of him, is 19 and already ranked No28 in the world – he will be a huge test for Evans in every sense.
“He hits a big ball, has a good serve,” said Evans. “I don’t really know that much about him, just those minor details. I’ll have a look tomorrow and see what we can come up with.”
Heather Watson’s New York nightmare just gets worse year by year.
Back in 2009, she fell in love with the Big Apple while she was winning the US Open junior title. But since she started playing on the professional tour, she has failed to win a match at Flushing Meadows. Seven times she has been back and seven times she – I’m going to has departed in tears and a taxi before the second round.
Yesterday it was a mystery virus and Richel Hogenkamp, a qualifier ranked No165 from the Netherlands that did for her.
After the first set, 32 minutes of torture during which Watson could barely land a ball in court and racked up 13 unforced errors and just the one winner, she called for the trainer.
By this stage, Watson was in tears but there was little the medics could do other than give her a couple of tablets and a little light massage. The time it took for treatment gave her a little breathing space and despite feeling dreadful, she put up a decent fight in the second set before losing 6-2, 7-5. The fever started four days ago and immediately set alarm bells ringing. Three years ago, Watson was diagnosed with glandular fever so as soon as her temperature started to rise, she went to the doctor to have a raft of blood tests to find the cause of the problem because her current symptoms are worryingly similar to those she had in 2013.
“I feel similar to when I had glandular fever,” she said. “I actually did think about not playing last night but I’m not the one to retire or pull out. It’s not in my nature so I thought I’d try today.
“It was really hard obviously physically but also mentally to try and not think about it. Near the end of that second set, I was just trying to stand up, let alone play.”