Evans’ clay game moulded by Tim
GREAT BRITAIN have turned to Tim Henman for inspiration after Andy Murray indicated he is unlikely to make this weekend’s Davis Cup quarter-final against France in Rouen, even as a cheerleader.
Murray is in a race to be fit for Monte Carlo later this month after injuring his elbow and is expected to remain in London to train rather than head across the Channel.
The absence of the world’s best player increases the pressure on Dan Evans to secure singles points in his two rubbers, despite not having played a competitive match on clay since May 2014.
The British No2 makes no secret of his hatred of a surface that does nothing to help his more aggressive game, a similar problem to the one faced by Henman throughout his career.
Then, from nowhere, Henman reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2004 just as his world ranking was starting to wane.
And this week the 42-year-old has been sharing the light-bulb moment when he finally worked out how to play on the surface.
“We’ve had some really good conversations with Henners,” said team captain Leon Smith, a man who is no stranger to nicknames. “Not in person, but on the phone and through messages.
“We have watched some footage, because I know that Evo can relate to the way that Henners played a lot and respects him a huge amount. And Henners gave some really good insight to the mind-set and the strategies needed when you have that sort of game.
“We also spoke to Paul Annacone as well, who was working with Henners at the time and knows Evo’s game really well.
“It is normal to reach out to a lot of people but in this case it is particularly relevant and it has been really useful.
“Evo is doing very, very well and one of the main reasons is that he plays a bit differently. That’s really important, to have that asset on any surface. Clay is no different. It’s important he goes out like that.”
Evans, 26, confirmed he would be doing the bulk of the homework tonight, before he goes out to face Jeremy Chardy tomorrow, with Lucas Pouille to follow on Sunday.
Kyle Edmund will be playing reverse singles rubbers, with doubles on Saturday afternoon.
“Tim sent quite a long text to my coach, Mark Hilton, and he relayed that to me,” said Evans. “I haven’t watched anything yet. I will do before we play on Friday.
“We normally do that on the Thursday night. I remember a little bit about Tim’s run at the French Open, but not a huge amount.”
Evans’ lack of experience on clay makes Britain the underdogs going into the weekend, France fieldiung a weakened team.
Richard Gasquet is recovering from an appendix operation and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is short of match practice following the birth of his son, while Gael Monfils has also pulled out with a knee injury.
It is only the second time none of the trio have been available for a France team since 2005. the the