Out-of-sorts Dan unfazed by boos
DAN Evans shrugged off being booed at the end of his French Open second-round defeat, saying: “I couldn’t care less.”
British number two Evans, feeling the effects of a chest infection, put in a shift of almost three-and-a-half hours against 23-year-old Swede Mikael Ymer, only to lose in four sets, 6-3 3-6 6-2 6-2 in Paris on Thursday night.
When Ymer brought up match point Evans, who had clearly had enough, just swatted his service return into the net. The half-hearted shot was met with jeers from the crowd on a packed Court Six, but Evans was unrepentant.
“I gave away the last point, but I couldn’t care less to be honest with you,” said the 29th seed.
“I think I’d put enough effort in for three-and-a-half hours. I was physically spent. That was it for me. That’s the way it is.
“It was a difficult match. It’s frustrating and it’s upsetting, don’t get me wrong, but that’s the way it goes.”
Warwickshire player Evans clearly looked out of sorts despite rallying to take the second set, and kept apologising for spitting and blowing his nose onto the court.
“I’ve had a chest infection since Tuesday last week,” he explained. “I’ve been struggling just with that really. It’s not ideal really.
“Normal symptoms, sweating a lot in the night, bad sleep. The normal stuff. It probably took a lot out of me playing through, getting ready. It’s unfortunate.”
Meanwhile, defending champion Novak Djokovic and 13-time king of clay Rafael Nadal remain on course for a box-office quarter-final after blowing away their third-round opponents yesterday.
Lying in wait for each other in the same quarter of the draw due to Nadal’s world ranking of fifth, the big two are due to collide unusually early at Roland Garros this year.
Djokovic, taking centre stage on Court Philippechatrier, made short work of subdued Slovenian – and one-time representative of
Great Britain – Aljaz Bedene, winning 6-3 6-3 6-2. At the same time, on Court Suzannelenglen, Nadal was dealing with Dutchman Botic Van De Zandschulp with relative ease, registering a 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory.
The illustrious duo are matching each other almost stride for stride as they pound through the tournament.
They have yet to drop a set and have lost just 23 games apiece so far. In the most prolific rivalry in men’s tennis, Djokovic has 30 wins to Nadal’s 28 ahead of the eagerlyanticipated 59th instalment.
Standing in the way are 15th-seeded Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, who will face Djokovic, and Nadal’s last-16 opponent Felix Augeraliassime, the ninth seed.
The youngest player left in the women’s draw knocked out the oldest as Coco Gauff beat veteran campaigner Kaia Kanepi.
Gauff, 18, swept past 36-year-old Estonian Kanepi, who turned professional five years before the American was born, in straight sets, 6-3 6-4. The 18th seed will now
face Belgium’s Elise Mertens, ranked 31.
Fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez is also through, the 19-year-old Canadian beating Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic 7-5 3-6 7-5.
Angelique Kerber, seeded 21,went out in straight sets to Emma Raducanu’s conqueror Aliaksandra Sasnovich.