Yes, I finally got there. Been feeling rather guilty this week that I haven't been to the tournament that is on my doorstep - well almost - but pressure of other things meant I didn't have the time, so I was pleased that Dan kept going until I could spare a couple of hours.

I don't pretend to be a good tennis analyst having only ever played for a few lessons at school so I won't make many comments on the level of play. I arrived after the match had started and Dan was 1-3 down. His attitude was already reminscent of AM on a bad day - irritable and swearing out loud. The court is overhung by trees at one end so hadn't dried out completely and he was shouting to the umpire that there were only 2 small dry patches at his end of the court. Masson was much the better player at this point. A couple of lost games later and Dan was serving to stay in the set. He appeared to give the game away, making very little effort on any of the points, which rather disturbed the Belgians sitting beside me. I have to confess, I would have thought it worth winning this game, even if losing the set after the next game, in order to serve first in set 2. 6-1 to Masson.

Dan lost the first 2 games in set 2 then broke Masson and held serve after a couple of deuces to level the match at 2-2. He then got to 0-40 but Masson won the next 5 points. Dan's demeanour was not good and someone behind me commented that he lacked the spirit of competition. Several deuces in following game but held by DE although he looked a bit tired at the end. Good return game by Dan with yet more deuces - quite a lot in this set.

Very impressed by Dan's sliced shots as were those around me. The crowd could have been as many as 20 on the benches and quite a few more on the clubhouse balcony. Score now 4-3 to Dan. Unfortunately the next service game was poor and the break handed back, quickly followed by a game to love by Masson. 5-4. Dan managed to win his service despite being 0-40 down and hit a lovely drop shot that died on the side line. He was questioning one point prompting the following from an observer 'he's so arrogant, thinks he's Federer.' 5-5 Lost the next game after yet another deuce and finally lost his own serve in a pretty lacklustre game, starting with a failed drop shot. Hmm, that reminds me of someone ...

6-1 7-5 Masson but the second set could have gone either way as Masson was also missing his chances and seemed not to concentrate on the ball at times. He banged a racket into the back netting at one point but he wasn't quite as bad tempered as Dan who lobbed his out of the court in disgust. He shares another Murray habit of berating himself out loud.

A little too much energy wasted in complaining, too little time spent on his chair between games, some excellent play but in patches. His opponent looked so much older and you have to wonder why he is still playing at this level at his age. Don't think those around me were impressed with Dan's attitude but they were very fair in their judgement of his play. It was quite busy at the club with tiny hockey players milling around at different times, so sometimes noisy.

Thanks for the report!

Sounds exactly like the Evans who played at Queens.... the one who acted like a spoilt teenager through the whole match, the one who gave up when it wasn't happening for him, and who spent most of the match slicing the ball.

It does appear he played better today though than he did at Queens, and shame he couldn't get the win, but I never expected him to today, and it's been a decent run to the semi's here, on a clay court which he probably isn't used to as well.

That seemed to work so here's some more pics from today.  Quality poor but gives an impression.

Thanks a lot for the report and the pics, Goldfish.

Shame that Evo lost his composure, but these things happen.