Elite escapades embolden Evans
Britain’s Dan Evans took a big dose of self-belief from his run to the Australian Open fourth round and said playing against the best in the world convinced him he belongs among them.
The Birmingham-born 26-year-old’s Melbourne Park campaign ended against French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday when Evans took the first set but ran out of steam to crash out 6-7(4),6-2,6-4,6-4-after-nearly three hours.
It brought to a close two weeks that saw him reach his first ATP final at the Sydney International and chase former US Open champion Marin Cilic and home hope Bernard Tomic out of the year’s first Grand Slam.
Ranked in the high 700s in the world only a couple of years ago but now destined for the top 50, Evans said he thoroughly enjoyed taking on the game’s elite on stadium courts.
“It’s just better to test yourself against those guys,” he said. “I played some great players this week on some good courts. That’s the main reason I play tennis, is to get that sort of buzz. Yeah, nothing else can give us that.
“I need to maybe get a bit fitter so I can last out those matches. I think today I was flagging pretty much after the first set. My body was sore. Maybe that’s something I can improve on a bit. But I’ve still come a long way from where I was last year, I think.”
Evans, who also beat world No 8 Dominic Thiem on his way to the Sydney final, said taking on top players brought the best out of him.
“I think last week proved playing the good guys, then coming here, it improves your game massively,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to the whole year playing those tournaments week in, week out. It’s what I wanted to do.
“I don’t plan on dropping down to play in any Challenger events. Stay up there and see what I can do.”
Evans will return home with more than $150,000 in his pocket and almost certainly to a new kit sponsor after playing in Australia in self-purchased shirts when his previous Nike deal was not renewed.
Asked for the highlight of his trip, though, he returned with a mischievous grin to an incident that initially made him fume “for about 20 minutes”.
Evans was angered by a brushoff from former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen when he requested a selfie with the South Africaborn batsman outside a Melbourne restaurant.
Evans said on Sunday Pietersen – no longer his favorite cricketer – had since gotten in touch and sent him tickets for a Twenty20 match at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“Maybe wondering what is going to happen to his image. That’s probably the only reason he did it,” Evans said.