TWO DOWN THREE TO GO

Evans closes in on Wimbledon return

DAN EVANS insisted he has nothing to prove on his return from a drug ban after winning his way to within three matches of the Wimbledon main draw.

The former British No.2 was refused a wildcard by the All England Club after testing positive for cocaine in April last year and serving a 12-month suspension.

So two years after playing Roger Federer on Centre Court, Evans won two pre-qualifying matches against Marcus

Willis (right) and then Jack Findel-hawkins yesterday to reach full qualifying next week. Every bit of banter – and swearing – could be heard in the basic surroundings at Southlands College but the former world No.41 rose to the challenge.

The Davis Cup player, who is without a coach and wore kit he bought in Uniqlo, said: “I don’t have anything to prove to anybody. I’m a good tennis player – I’ve more got it to prove to myself than anyone, that I’ve made a catastrophic mistake, and that’s it now.

“No one in Wimbledon is probably bothered that I’m through here so it’s not that I’m going against them or doing it for anyone. They obviously disagreed on my wildcard. Now I have got a wildcard. Towards the end I was pretty tired, but it was good to get through.

“It’d be a great achievement to get to the main draw but it wouldn’t be a massive sense of satisfaction.

“Believe me, I’d prefer a wildcard than coming through these matches. Hopefully I’ll win on Monday – the Wimbledon dream’s still alive.”

World No.340 Evans won two tiebreaks in an entertaining match against Willis, who won six matches in 2016 to reach the main draw.

Willis, the world No.730, said: “Dan has matured a lot, the year off has been really good for him. His attitude is fantastic.”

Evans was then warned for an audible obscenity before beating world No.812 Findel-hawkins 6-4 3-6 6-3. “I’m glad Marcus is in a position to tell me I’ve matured,” the Brummie joked.

At the Fever-tree Championships at Queen’s Club, Nick Kyrgios sent down another 32 aces as he beat defending champion Feliciano Lopez 7-6 7-6.

He faces Marin Cilic in today’s semi-finals while former world No.1 Novak Djokovic will play France’s Jeremy Chardy.