EVANS FINALLY FITS THE BILL AS BRITISH No 1
After dispatching Andy Murray and Kyle edmund on consecutive days, there can be no argument that Dan evans merits his status as Britain’s No1 player.
that he won the inaugural Schroders ‘Battle of the Brits’ with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win over edmund in yesterday’s final should not be a surprise.
evans (below) has been the world’s 11th best player on points in this truncated season and he has picked up seamlessly from where he left off at the end of february.
Were the remaining tournaments on offer in 2020 — assuming they happen — not so heavily loaded towards clay, you might fancy him to make the AtP finals in November.
the most striking thing about evans in this event was his athleticism around the court, which enabled him to nimbly defend the huge forehand blows of edmund.
His recent signing of tim Henman’s former trainer Kieron Vorster looks like a shrewd move. ‘I don’t think I moved poorly before but it was enjoyable to get round the court that well,’ said evans, 30, who was only behind when broken in the match’s first game.
‘ I’m probably fitter than I have ever been. the last few months I have got a lot of work in. So I feel like I am in a good place.’
Like Murray, he will not now play until mid-August’s AtP event in Washington DC.
Murray had earlier withdrawn from the third-place play- off due to a concern over soreness to his shins, not believed to be serious.
Instead he coached James Ward, who lost to Cam Norrie, at courtside. Murray’s technique was mainly encouragement mixed with some stern words. ‘ You’ve got two weeks to sit on your a** e,’ he told Ward, who is about to leave to play World team tennis in the US and register to spend two weeks in quarantine. Does he have a future as a coach? ‘ Not if he keeps getting caught swearing live on tV,’ joked evans.
the event was an organisational triumph for Jamie Murray, whose brainchild it was.
there was £100,000 raised for NHS charities and he even somehow found time to win the doubles title alongside partner Neal Skupski.
No chances were taken with allowing the spread of Covid- 19. the courts were sealed off with giant drapes.
Whether a British closed championships happens again in the future will probably depend on how much international tour tennis takes place — something nobody can really know yet.