The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Rollercoaster week takes turn up for Evans
Britain’s Dan Evans caused another Australian Open surprise by reaching the last 16, but the Englishman believes his remarkable journey is far from finished.
Evans followed up his surprise victory against Marin Cilic on Wednesday by beating world number 27 Bernard Tomic 7-5, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3) to reach his first grand slam fourth round.
He will now set about inflicting another upset against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga tomorrow, the 12th seed from France, who he used to watch on television as a youngster.
Evans is now daring to dream of reaching even greater heights in Melbourne and said: “It was a goal to make the fourth round of a slam this year, so it’s satisfying, but I’m not looking back yet.”
The 26-year-old deservedly beat home favourite Tomic in two hours and 48 minutes, but the match was not without controversy with Evans regularly at loggerheads with a fervent crowd and, in particular, his opponents’ coaching staff and family.
Evans said: “He has a friend in the spectators’ box who doesn’t know how to act on a tennis court.
“He was just screaming at me when I was getting my towel. And the umpire saw it as well and didn’t say anything. I wish some of my people would do that. English people are too well-mannered.”
Evans’ exploits in Australia have given him a small measure of fame but it is clearly still in its infancy as he discovered in a chance encounter with Kevin Pietersen at Melbourne’s Crown Casino earlier this week which ended with the former England international cricketer ignoring Evans’ request for a photo.
Evans said: “He was my favourite cricketer until that point, but there was some serious rage for about 20 minutes after that happened.
“It was a bad moment. It was so embarrassing as well. He didn’t even just say no. He handed me off. I was nowhere near him either. It was really embarrassing.”
Asked how he might respond if Pietersen requested a ticket to his next match, Evans said: “He’s such a celebrity now, he doesn’t need to ask me for tickets.”