Only two summers ago Dan Evans was up at a career-high ranking of 21st in the world. Now the Birmingham-born player is just a fraction inside the top 200, having dropped out of it altogether earlier this year.
His season so far has been one of hard grind with little reward, spent largely plugging away on the lower-tier, lower-profile Challenger tour. He has only won one ATP-level match this season, on the grass last week at ’s-Hertogenbosch, where he came through qualifying to reach the last-16.
However, somewhere the Brit always comes alive is on the grass. And under bright Queen’s Club sunshine on the Andy Murray Arena, Evans produced some of his best inventive, classy tennis to dismantle the world No 13 and seventh seed Frances Tiafoe. His 7-5, 6-2 win was his first top-20 victory since October 2023 (coincidentally, also over the American).
Now the British No 7, Evans’ slide down the rankings has not necessarily been because of a drop-off in form, but because of the somewhat arbitrary nature of the points system. In August last year, the then 58th-ranked Evans opted not to defend his Washington Open title in favour of entering the Paris Olympics, where he partnered Andy Murray in the Scot’s farewell tournament. The consequence was that he slipped to 178th.
It has been a long road trying to claw his way back up, more akin to playing snakes and ladders than professional tennis. At 35, Evans is only too aware that time is not on his side. Earlier this year, he brushed off the idea of retirement; after his win on Monday, he said, “I still believe I can do good things inside the top 100. But believing it and it happening is a lot different.”
After months of toil, it is matches like these that make the grind feel worth it, and it was vintage Evans who took to the court on Monday.
As women’s champion Tatjana Maria sliced her way through the field last week, causing the brains of four successive top-20 players to short-circuit, so too did Evans frustrate Tiafoe with his hugely effective backhand slice. In almost every backhand-to-backhand exchange, it was the Brit who came out on top. In almost every longer rally, it was Evans who stayed patient, either forcing the error from an increasingly frustrated Tiafoe or – more commonly – lashing in a winner.
In the early stages, the pair were well-matched, and Tiafoe – a French Open quarter-finalist this year – earned the first opportunity to break, leading at 2-1. But in what was to become a pattern, Evans dug himself out of trouble, and with his all-court game firing, it was the Brit who struck first. A double fault from Tiafoe brought up break point, and a brilliant passing shot from the Brit sealed the game.
But his concentration wavered and Tiafoe broke straight back, ruthlessly punishing a couple of errors. Evans has at times shown a tendency to get bogged down in his own mind on court. There was none of that here, as he recovered his rhythm on serve, and after holding to love for 5-5, a sublime backhand down the line gave him a second chance to break.
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Once he broke, he hit his stride. Another lengthy rally went the Brit’s way courtesy of another fine passing shot that Tiafoe could only hopelessly watch drift by. Evans took the set with an exquisite forehand volley.
Now, not only playing some of his best tennis but full of self-belief, the world No 190 started to enjoy himself. And Tiafoe cracked, double-faulting to hand over an early break. Like in the first set, Tiafoe had an immediate chance to level as Evans took a tumble on the baseline, but the 35-year-old regrouped and held with some excellent serving.
As Evans rattled through the second set Tiafoe, one of the game’s most swashbuckling characters, looked a shell of his usual self. Evans broke again for a 4-1 lead thanks to a fortunate net cord and, on Tiafoe’s serve, produced a highlight reel-worthy shot for match point, sprinting from corner to corner in a lengthy rally until the seventh seed volleyed wide.
The first was saved and Tiafoe held; but another ludicrous rally went Evans’ way to set up a second. Serving for the match, Evans went from flailing at the baseline, lobbing his opponent from deep in the court, to winning the point with a sweet drop shot, an exhibition-style rally that summed up the encounter.
Another fine drop shot sealed it and the crowd gave a standing ovation for Evans’ biggest win since 2023, the year his ranking and career peaked. Evans’ relief was palpable and Tiafoe looked emotionally spent. Maybe he hadn’t quite prepared for the level of tennis Evans can still bring, fired up in front of a home crowd, playing with British grass under his feet.
“I’m happy to play some good tennis because it has been few and far between,” the Brit said afterwards. “Days like this are why I’ve been carrying on playing.
“It has been a long year so far, I’ve been playing the lower tournaments, but this is why I’m hanging around to try and get some wins on the grass.”
His draw doesn’t get any easier; he will face either another American in Brandon Nakashima or the huge-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, whose 6’8” frame is ideally suited to grass.
But based on this showing, Evans will be hanging around a little while longer. As he said after the match: “Some days [in training] you think, are you deluded, are you nuts, have you still got it? I think today showed I still have a bit left.”
