Dan Evans’ US Open adventure is over as injury ruined what was shaping up to be a classic third round against Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
Early in the third set with the scores level, Evans began to appear in some discomfort and at 3-0 down received medical attention in the area of his right hip. The 34-year-old was seen taking a pill before the match so perhaps it was a pre-existing issue which he exacerbated.
When Evans came back from 4-0 and 40-15 down in the fifth set to beat Karen Khachanov in his first-round match, it always felt as though that five hour, 35 minute match – the longest in US Open history – would be a Pyrrhic victory. Those Herculean labours presumably played some part in this injury. Evans has not an ounce of quit in him and he refused to retire hurt, instead wincing and hobbling through the final two sets to lose 6-4, 6-7, 6-0, 6-0. Evans won only three points in the final set.
What a pity this thrilling run ended thus, and what a shame for the night session crowd on Louis Armstrong, for the first two sets of this match were terrific.
An Ashes matchup it may have been but it was not bodyline and it was not big-hitting Bazball. Instead these two had the spinners on under lights and deftly picked out gaps in the field.
Daniel Evans of Great Britain reacts after losing to Alex de Minaur of Australia
Alex de Minaur will face fellow Australian Jordan Thompson on Monday for a quarterfinal berth
Neither player has the power to hit through the other and so they must rely on more subtle skills to get the job done.
This was a throwback to the days when this event was played on grass with wooden rackets, points played with
De Minaur said before this contest he was still only ’80-85 per cent’ fit after a hip injury of his own at Wimbledon, and that he was in the uncomfortable position of having to choose which balls to attempt to run down in order to protect his body.
There was precious little evidence of that hesitancy against Evans as De Minaur flew across the court. In the first set he clawed a forehand volley back at full stretch, turned 180 degrees and sprinted deep into the backhand corner to flick a winning passing shot. That helped set up a break point and Evans netted what was, for him, a regulation backhand volley. When there is someone with the rapidity of De Minaur on the other side of the net those volleys become a degree more difficult.
Watching the first set it was difficult to compute the 3-0 head to head lead Evans had in this fixture. De Minaur never allowed Evans to settle into his rhythm of slice backhands, mixing things up by creeping into the net and hitting some gorgeous drop-volleys.
Daniel Evans is treated by Director of Medical Services Alejandro Resnicoff between games
And when Evans rushed the net himself, De Minaur tracked everything down and lobbed with dead-eyed accuracy.
Evans, wily old campaigner that he is, made the appropriate adjustments by using his topspin drive backhand more often, rather than the slice, and being more selective in approaching the net.
At 4-4 in the second set De Minaur played a horrible service game and was broken to love. Evans could not serve out tough as De Minaur broke back with the latest in a catalogue of superb lobs and into a tiebreak we went.
Back to that head to head, perhaps Evans has the edge in the matchup because he forces De Minaur, a natural counter-puncher, to generate his own pace instead. The Aussie overhit a couple of balls in the tiebreak and Evans levelled the scores.
Alex de Minaur from Australia acknowledges the crowd after his win over Daniel Evans
His momentum was snapped after he dragged a regulation overhead into the net on his way to being broken in the first game of the third set.
Then the signs of pain began to be written over his every wince and grimace, and the match as a contest was over.
Despite a horrible ending this has been an important week for Evans. He came in without a tour win since March and his decision to play the Olympics with Andy Murray meant he had no chance to defend the points he earned winning the Washington title last year.
That meant he was dumped out of the top 150 in the world and had he lost that nailbiter against Khachanov he would have slipped to around 225. His two wins here should give him a foothold from which to attempt to return to the world’s top 100 before the end of the year. The question after tonight is whether his body will allow him to do so.
