Dan Evans is back in action at the All England Lawn Tennis Club against Sebastian Korda looking to continue his journey at Wimbledon.
The British No 1, nicknamed Evo, is in fine form and the No 22 seed is eyeing up a place in the last 16 for the first time.
“I think it’s another difficult match,” Evans said. “Everything you expect in a third round. He’s a great talent. He’s a great player already. His game suits up well to the grass.
“But it’s the third round of Wimbledon. There’s a lot of added pressure which comes with that. He’s not been in that position before. There’s a lot of different variables.
“I know the guys pretty well, his coach and his dad. He has sound people around him, so he’ll be prepared. I’ll obviously do my best to prepare well and make a game plan.”
Evans grew up idolising Tim Henman and Pete Sampras and enjoys playing golf away from the court, with a handicap of 9, and following Aston Villa.
Evans was excellent on Court Two in the first round to beat Feliciano Lopez and then again in the second round on Court One to fend off Croatian Dusan Lajovic in straight sets (6-3 6-3 6-4), with his equal-best run already secure after featuring in the third round at both the 2016 and 2019 tournaments.
Roger Federer had too much for him five years ago and João Sousa got the better of him two years ago, but now Evans has been gifted a great opportunity to reach the fourth round, where Russian Karen Khachanov awaits.
A win would equal Evans’ best ever run at a Grand Slam, which occurred in the 2017 Australian Open, where Jo-Wilfried Tsonga eliminated him in the fourth round.
Perhaps Evans’ best moment of his career so far was his involvement in the Great Britain side that won the Davis Cup in 2015.
But the 31-year-old is the current British No 1 ahead of Cam Norrie, Kyle Edmund and Andy Murray.
He used his involvement in the British Davis Cup-winning side to climb into the world’s top 60 in 2016.
While a first ATP final arrived in January of 2017 at the Sydney International, a run that saw him beat No 8 in the world Dominic Thiem, though he fell short against Gilles Müller.
Another big scalp came against Marin Cilic at the Australian Open, with a big win over home favourite Bernard Tomic before the aforementioned loss to Tsonga.
A breakthrough season was cut short however when he tested positive for cocaine in April 2017, incurring a one-year ban.
A storming comeback arrived by 2019 when he claimed the British No 1 ranking with a second ATP final at the Delray Beach Open, though he lost once more, this time to Radu Albot.
Evans used his success upon return to the court as a springboard towards a career-high world ranking of No 33 by January of 2020, with a notable win over Russia’s Andrey Rublev at the Dubai Tennis Championships to reach the semi-finals, only to lose to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
He solidified his No 33 ranking by the end of the year with two further runs to semi-finals in Antwerp and Vienna, with defeats against Ugo Humbert and Lorenzo Sonego, denying him another final.
He would not have to wait long though for not just another final but a first ATP victory at the Murray River Open in Melbourne without dropping a set. He beat Félix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets to secure a ranking of world No. 26.
More success was to come with a first ever victory over a world No 1, beating Novak Djokovic at the Monte-Carlo Masters and going on to secure a first ever quarter-final and subsequent semi-final at a Masters 1000 event, only to come undone by Tsitsipas again.
His performances at Wimbledon so far indicate his breakout season could blossom even further with Grand Slam success and cementing his name among the top 20 players in the world.
Based out in Dubai, Evans weighs in at 75kg and is 5’9, with Sebastian Prieto serving as his coach.
He has earned a combined $3,840,680 over his career in singles and doubles.
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