Dan Evans likens US Open clash with Stan Wawrinka to Wimbledon meeting with Roger Federer after reaching third round

Action: Evans defeated Alexander Zverev (6-4 6-4 5-7 6-2) to reach the third round
Elsa/Getty Images
Paul Newman2 September 2016

A remarkable US Open for British players took another significant turn here last night as Dan Evans recorded one of the finest victories of his career.

The world No 64’s 6-4 6-4 5-7 6-2 win over Alexander Zverev, which followed Andy Murray’s 6-4 6-1 6-4 defeat of Marcel Granollers earlier in the day, means that three British men are through to the third round of the singles here for the first time for 48 years. Kyle Edmund will be the first to play again when he meets John Isner in Louis Armstrong Stadium in a match unlikely to start before 11pm BST tonight.

The last time Britain enjoyed such success at this tournament was in 1968 on the grass courts at Forest Hills, when Roger Taylor, Paul Hutchins and Peter Curtis reached the third round. It is also 17 years since three British men made the third round at any Grand Slam event, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski and Danny Sapsford having reached the last 32 at Wimbledon in 1999.

Evans, who will now face the world No 4 Stan Wawrinka, reached the third round here three years ago, beating Kei Nishikori and Bernard Tomic along the way, but the 26-year-old from Birmingham said the circumstances of this victory made it the best of his career. Zverev is one of the game’s outstanding young talents, but for most of the match the world No 28 was outplayed as Evans took the game to his opponent.

On a challenging day of rain delays and court changes, Evans and Zverev did not start until just before 9pm. The match was played on Court 4, where the coming and going of fans can be a major distraction.

Zverev struggled to keep his focus and was in a tetchy mood throughout. The 19-year-old German argued with the umpire about line calls, received a code violation for smashing his racket and appeared to take exception to Evans celebrating his opponent’s double faults.

Evans, in contrast, kept his cool throughout. “It was the only way I could really win,” he said afterwards. “I needed to focus all the way through, especially in the fourth, where the momentum was definitely with him. I just stayed focused, eyes down, ready to go.”

The Briton broke in the very first game from 40-0 down and served out for the first set. The big-hitting Zverev made the first break in the second set and was furious when he then dropped serve twice in a row. The German smashed his racket with such violence that Evans pointedly asked for any debris to be cleared from the court surface.

Evans served out to take the second set, but Zverev wrested back the initiative with some bold attacking play in the third. Evans, however, quickly took command of the fourth. After breaking in the third game with a big backhand winner down the line the Briton broke for the sixth and last time to seal the victory just as the clock approached midnight.

Only 15 months ago Evans was ranked No 763 in the world, but he is now projected to climb to a career-high position of No 52. By reaching the third round he is guaranteed to win $140,000 (roughly £105,000), which would be the biggest pay cheque of his career.

Evans’ performances here could put him in pole position to fill the second singles spot behind Murray in Britain’s forthcoming Davis Cup semi-final against Argentina in Glasgow, though that would be harsh on Edmund, who was the hero of the quarter-final victory away to Serbia.

US Open Tennis 2016 - In pictures

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Looking ahead to his meeting with Wawrinka, Evans said with a smile: “Hopefully that will not be on Court 4. It’s going to be good fun. It’s a bit like Wimbledon. I had a good win [against Alexandr Dolgopolov] and then played Federer. It will be on a good court. I’ll look forward to it. I’ve never hit with him, never played against him.”

Murray, meanwhile, will face Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi, who at 34 is enjoying the best spell of his career. The world No 40, who until this week had won only two of the 21 Grand Slam matches he had played, beat Gilles Simon 3-6 6-2 6-2 6-7 7-6 after four hours and 54 minutes in a match that featured 19 breaks of serve. Lorenzi looked barely able to walk at the end after suffering severe cramps.

Murray was pleased with his victory over Granollers, which might have taken less than two hours and 22 minutes if the Scot had not needed seven set points to secure the first set.

“There was a 20 or 25-minute period in the match where it was tough and tricky,” Murray said afterwards. “I got myself in a situation that maybe I could have avoided if I had taken one or two of the set points that I had at 5-2 or 5-3, but I thought I did pretty well. I thought there were some good points in there.”

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