Murray helps Evans dig deep Down Under

IT was cold and windy, nearly 9pm, and what little crowd there was on court No8 at Melbourne Park was dead against British No 5 Dan Evans.

He had just lost the second set against Amir Weintraub when a hooded figure sneaked into one of the stands to offer some moral support.

It turned out to be Andy Murray, world No 2 and recently-anointed Sports Personality of the Year, again showing his remarkably selfless support for other British players.

Murray barked encouragement to his Davis Cup team-mate and, coincidence or not, it did the trick.

Evans (right), earlier involved in a altercation with a group of Israeli fans rooting for his opponent, found great composure and came through to the final qualifying round of the Australian Open with a 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 victory.

‘I had nothing better to do,’ said Murray, who did something similar when Kyle Edmund was playing in the French Open first round last year.

Evans clearly appreciated the gesture. ‘It was nice of him, really good of him to come out and I’ll thank him for that,’ said the 25-year-old. Prior to Murray’s arrival, Evans had been in a real tangle with the Israeli, with tempers fraying early in the second set.

A dozen or so of Weintraub’s supporters were loudly cheering their man and Evans felt it crossed the line. At one stage umpire Jake Garner came down from his chair and stood between the two players as tensions threatened to boil over. Evans said: ‘They were just idiots, coughing during my ball toss. I got nervous, that’s pretty much it.’

Tomorrow he faces talented American Bjorn Fratangelo in the final qualifying round. James Ward went out of the second round 6-4, 7-5 to American Dennis Novikov, and Naomi Broady exited in the first round 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to France’s

Alize Lim.