It has been an incredible few weeks for British number three Dan Evans, as the 23-year-old has progressed through to the third round of this year’s US Open at Flushing Meadows.
Evans ranked 179 in the world has disposed of number 11 seed Kei Nishikori and Australian Bernard Tomic to reach the third round, where he will face Spaniard Tommy Robredo today.
Only a few months ago the future looked bleak for Evans who was consigned to futures events and devoid of funding from the British Tennis Association. The Birmingham based right handed fell in the first round of qualifying at Wimbledon, and his prospects looked decidedly dull.
Yet now Evans is enjoying the time of his life after reaching the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. What makes his achievement even more spectacular is that he had to progress through three rounds of qualifying against higher ranked players just to make the main draw.
Yet in truth we shouldn’t be that surprised, despite the fact that Evans has never broke into the to 150, a fact which is soon to change. The talent has always been there, as shown by some superb Davis Cup performances over the past two years, but it has been his attitude and doubts over his commitment that have held him back.
However now Evans is in the form of his life, and full of confidence after reaching the finals of two challenger events in recent weeks, and losing only two of his past 15 contests. All of a sudden Evans looks like the top 100 player that his potential has always suggested, with the
Against Robredo there will be no pressure for the 23-year-old, who can relax and enjoy the occasion. If he wins then it is another incredible victory, while a defeat would do nothing to undermine his achievements to date in this tournament.
A host of points from this success will help to move him further up the rankings and surely to a new career high, and between now and the end of the season he has a meagre 18 points to defend, so the future looks much more promising.
Three months ago very few people would have believed it if your said Evans would be in this position, but now he finally seems to be coming of age.