Dan Evans only won one of his last eight matches before sealing the victory in Washington. a scorching hot day at the Queen's Club when Dan Evans blushed while talking to reporters after another first-round loss. He looked as dejected as ever and admitted, «I'm not going to play tennis at the moment.»
Seven weeks later, the picture has completely changed. On Sunday, Evans won his biggest career title at the Citi Open in Washington — just the second Tour-level trophy of his career — and woke up at number 21, his career peak.
This past week in the US capital marked a dramatic turn in the fortunes of Briton No. 2. This season has been a challenging one for Evans, to say the least. Since reaching the semi-finals of Barcelona in April, he has won only one of the last eight matches — and that was at the Surbiton ATP Challenger tournament.
All his losses, with the exception of the game against Seb Korda at Queen's, were players below him. He called it «shameful».
Unsure how to end his poor form, he parted ways with his longtime coach, Sebastian Prieto, two weeks before Wimbledon. He went to great lengths to try and jump-start his season but it didn't work at first as he was still upset by world No. 79 Quentin Halis in the first round of SW19.
Evans has parted ways with his longtime coach after a disappointing early exit from the Queens. Photo: Peter Ciborra/Reuters
The decisions seemed difficult, but somehow he clicked and found a way to enjoy tennis again in Washington. . He beat two top 20 opponents, including world No. 10 Francis Tiafoe, on his way to a 7-5, 6-3 final victory over Dutchman Tallon Greekspur.
Throughout this, he played at his highest level using his nimble touch on the net and smart gameplay against strong attackers. He is the first Briton to win the title since Tim Henman in 2003.
“Doing the work that I have done and continuing it and succeeding is [amazing],” Evans said. “I didn't play very well and wasn't happy with my game.
“The last game sort of summed up my week. I got out of trouble and it was an amazing week.”
At 33, Evans is in the twilight of his career, but most of his success has come in recent years. Since 2020, he has been a stable operator and has not fallen out of the top 40.
Always outspoken, his position in the world order made him aware of his role as one of Britain's leading players. He made headlines ahead of the grass court season for openly criticizing his compatriots after no Brit made the top 100 for the first time in 15 years.
Evans lambasted the Brits. playing for her elitism, describing herself as a rare professional tennis player from the working class, after a disappointing early elimination at the French Open.
At a fiery press conference, Evans redoubled his criticism of the Lawn Tennis Association. , and demanded that the sport be open to players from poorer backgrounds.
“I speak my mind because I want working-class kids to get the support they deserve,” Evans said. «I'm doing this for working class people, like me.»
These comments then coincided with his own terrible performance, but this latest result in Washington will give Evans the strength to know he can compete on a very well, as he's heading to the US Open later this month.
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