Evans hits bump on the road to redemption
FEATURE WRITER CHIEF SPORTS
Long after the sun had slipped behind the spire of St Mary’s Church, Dan Evans was still scampering across the Wimbledon grass as if his career depended on it. Which, in a way, it did. For Evans, life after his suspension for cocaine use is a complex affair.
With each match on the Grand Slam stage, he is striving not just to elevate his ranking but to rebuild his reputation. So far it has been a quest rich in promise, and never more so than in this third-round epic against Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
But after four hours it all ended, to his torment, in a five-set defeat.
As he netted his final backhand, Evans looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.
He craved victory in this match more than he could possibly express, realising that he could become the first British man besides Andy Murray to reach the second week of Wimbledon in the past 15 years.
His desire, ultimately, was laudable but not sufficient, with Sousa prevailing to set up a precious last-16 contest against Rafael Nadal.
The scale of that prize magnified the pain of Evans’s loss. He had been up in every set, revelling in the final-set drama as it concluded beneath the No1 Court roof.
But Sousa would simply not be subdued, extending Evans through one rally too many and pouncing on his underpowered second serve.
Evans did not need reminding of the size of opportunity that had slipped away. “I fought as hard as I could fight,” he said. “It’s disappointing to lose, for me and for the people in my box. Everyone was living it with me. That makes it tough to take.”
Evans is the phlegmatic type, though, and he gave short shrift to a question about how long he would require to absorb this defeat. “I’ll be over it in 45 minutes,” he replied.
“Feeling sorry for myself isn’t going to do anything for anyone, is it? In all five sets, when I needed to find my serve, I was found wanting.”
Such perspective owes much to his recent experience. This time 12 months ago, he was still a tennis pariah for the cocaine episode, shunned by his peers for his stupidity and reduced to filling the daylight hours watching mindless television.
This time, he was luxuriating in the love of a crowd who could not take their eyes off his bustling, harrying style, or his frequent tantrums, mostly directed at himself.
“I felt privileged to play there, to be honest,” Evans said. “Last year, I wasn’t playing the tournament – I was banned. I have to look back and be happy with how the year has gone. And I just have to be back next year.”
There was guile and variety to his game, of a kind that had impressed even Roger Federer during their Australian Open encounter this year.
It was not always a comfortable exercise, mind. At one changeover, Evans asked for some paracetamol, explaining that he had a headache.
If Sousa imagined he might be distracted by the pain, he was to be mistaken. Evans was ruthless, making sure of the opening set when his fine, leaping serve could only be flopped feebly back into the net.
Clearly, a practice session that Evans had enjoyed here with Federer was proving helpful. He was marching around behind the baseline before every point, exhorting himself to sustain the effort. And yet how quickly such a match can tilt on its axis.
With Evans serving for a two-setsto-love lead at 5-3, Sousa shook off his torpor, winning 10 of the next 11 points to level it up.
Evans vented at his support team in his stands, searching for inspiration as he wolfed down a banana.
His mood grew gloomier still, as he
Evans vented at his support team in the stands, searching for inspiration as he wolfed a banana
took a swipe at his chair. Eventually, he took some responsibility, telling those in the players’ box, including his girlfriend, Aleah: “We’re still winning.”
Not for much longer, alas. Sousa turned up the heat on his backhand side to seize the third set 7-5.
Evans could hardly be faulted for passion, banging his head with his racket after one careless mistake. “Think!” he screamed.
He could be thankful that Sousa, likewise, was not thinking straight, allowing Evans to take the fourth set 6-4 with a superb forehand pass.
On into the night we all went, as Evans successfully appealed to match referee Gerry Armstrong to have the court roof closed.
The force was with him heading into the fifth, but in the final reckoning, it was Sousa who held firm.