Week 2 - ATP 250 - Apia International, Sydney, Australia (hard)

Vandenburg · Futures level

RE: Week 2 - ATP 250 - Apia International, Sydney, Australia (hard)

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

L16: Dan Evans WR 67 vs (8) Marcel Granollers (ESP) WR 37 (CH = 19 in July 2012)

Another Spaniard in his 30s who's still playing near the top of his game! There is no head-to-head.

TMH · Futures qualifying

Monteiro is a former junior #2 from Broady's generation who, much like Liam, has struggled a bit to make his mark on the tour. Great to see him finally breaking the top 100. And a good win for Evo.

Robin · Lower Club Player

Evo won after losing the first set 6-1

DF · Tennis legend

Well done Dan 1-6 6-3 6-3 smile

Priesty · Challenger level

Yay Dan biggrin

There seem to be some doubters but I see no reason why he can't stay in the top 100 for at least a few years provided he keeps working hard and stays injury free. He's in there on merit and is proving he can hold his own against much higher ranked guys.

He'd better still be in the top 100 at least by the entry date for the US Open anyway seeing as I'm planning to go out there this year and spectate! biggrin

stevemcqueen · Futures qualifying

Hi Priesty, I am probably the doubter you are referring to! You pretty much hit the nail on the head when you said he needs to stay injury free and keep working. When he is playing well, there is no better player to watch.

Did anyone see the match?

Robin · Lower Club Player

After all the hard work in the last remarkable season I'm sure the hard work will continue and Dan will be top 50 for the most of 2017.

Some of the predictions for his ranking at the end of 2017 left me scratching my head, no offence :)

Julia Carrot · All-time great

I watched a few games of this, saw him win the second set and get ahead in the third. What really impressed me was his speed, at times he moved like the wind . Well done Dan.

Jan · Hall of fame

Excellent!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Robin wrote:
After all the hard work in the last remarkable season I'm sure the hard work will continue and Dan will be top 50 for the most of 2017.

Some of the predictions for his ranking at the end of 2017 left me scratching my head, no offence :)

I had a roughly 'market average' prediction for Dan, I think, somewhere about 80 or so.

But I think many people who predict a 'surprisingly' low rank do so because:

(a) once bitten, twice shy - they've lost out many times in the past, hoping, praying that Dan will do as well as he should and can't shake that off, and

(b) it's the reverse of double-jeopardy - I do the same for Andy and Joko - i.e. under-predict because if Jo finishes in the top 5 I'll be so thrilled I won't give two hoots that I got it completely wrong, and if she finishes 25 I'll be disappointed but at least I can take a tiny bit of satisfaction that I got the prediction roughly right - there's no downside.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Great win from Dan. Always thought he had a chance against Granollers but there is a big difference between "having a chance" and "taking a chance", so well done Dan.

A couple of other results to note. Kyle's conqueror, Matthew Barton, put up a really good fight in R2 but went out 6-4 in the 3rd set to Gilles Muller.

The young Aussie Alex de Minaur who had a WC, took out Benoit Paire in R1. I know Paire can blow hot and cold, but that's a terrific win for the youngster. He went on to lose by retirement in R2 to Kuznetsov, who has reached the QF without having to finish a match so far, having come through R1 by retirement as well.

Smudge226 · Strong Club Player

Yes, I'm in (a).... but Evo is bringing me round this year with his improved fitness and commitment.

Great win and I think he is finally starting to deliver some consistency. He probably can survive just inside the top 50, somehow I doubt top 25 at five foot ten and without the big weapon but its fantastic to see after some depressing years. His movement and fitness is key since technically he is of a good standard. He just needed to knuckle down and do the right training it seems. Advancing years and a role model in Murray seems to be working. The Murray way is rubbing off on our top players it has to be true. biggrin

thejester · Satellite level

I'm not one of the doubters personally, but I can fully understand why some people are. There are 3 main reasons why I think Dan will not only cement his place in the Top 100 but also push on towards the Top 32.

1 - I watched Evo when he was 600-odd in the world at Nottingham futures. The dedication and work that it takes to come from that far down the rankings to where he is now is massive, regardless of how talented you are. Dan has made no secret of his loathing of playing futures level tennis in front of a couple of men and a dog, but he didn't throw in the towel, trained hard and put in the hours on and off the court to justify his talent.

2 - Top-level. At his best, Evo is capable of brilliant tennis that allows him to compete with the very best. We saw that against Wawrinka at the USO and whilst you always feel he'll blow hot and cold over a full season, he's the type of player who can definitely show up to a Masters or Slam and go deep.

3 - Money. Dan clearly enjoys the lifestyle that comes with making a very good living out of the sport. It's quite possible that finance motivates him just as much as success itself, and for that reason I expect him to continue to do well as the motivation remains and is self-perpetuating the more success he has.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

L16: Dan Evans WR 67 defeated (8) Marcel Granollers (ESP) WR 37 by 1-6 6-3 6-3

The match to decide Dan's quarter-final opponent is currently on court, with Dominic Thiem (1) 2-2* in the first set against Gastão Elias.