OK. On to the good stuff - Evo.

I guess if you had to pick someone in the Top 50 to play, given the surface and current form, Mischa Zverev (lost 9 of his 10 previous matches since beating Andy) on clay, would be right up at the top of the list. But let's not take anything away from Dan who was utterly brilliant.

Whatever the state of the rest of his game, the lefty Zverev serve will always provide a challenge and I always felt that Dan would have to match that and then take his chances when they came. Dan did exactly that and served superbly, mixing power and disguise in equal measure.  His 1st serve percentage was a very impressive 80%.

The first few games were very serve dominated. On the odd occasion when the players got into a rally, Dan seemed to target the Zverev backhand. I remember one rally where Zverev must have hit 10 - 15 backhands consecutively. But Dan was gradually getting the hang of the Zverev serve and steadily cranked up the pressure with a series of passing shots off both wings as Zverev came to the net at every possibility. In the final game of the first set, Zverev had 40-15 when Dan (I think it was this point) produced a stunning top spin lob to win the point. Suddenly we were back at deuce. On each of the next two points, Zverev charged the net, Dan drilled his response directly at the opponent. The first Zverev volley went long, and on the second, he over compensated and prodded into the net. One set of tennis. One BP created. One BP converted and Dan had the set 6-4.

Into the 2nd set and the Zverev serve was coming under increasing pressure. As the set developed, Zverev became more and more indecisive over his tactics. If he came to the net, Dan was passing him with ever greater regularity, but if he stayed back, he didn't have the ground stroke quality of Dan and was generally being outplayed. Dan managed to force 15-40 at one point, but Zverev hit one of his very rare winners from the back of the court with a strong forehand and followed it up with a service winner. He went on to hold.

In the next game, Dan raced to 40-0 but then had his one bad period of the match. Zverev by this time had almost given up coming to the net and was just rallying from the back of the court. Evo suddenly missed a few balls though and was broken after losing 5 points in a row. But if over two sets your only bad patch lasts just 5 points, you can certainly be forgiven. Dan came roaring straight back to break the Zverev serve again in the next game.

By the time we came to the final game of the match, Zverev was approaching the net with all the confidence of a rabbit in the headlights.

With Zverev serving to stay in the match, Dan just turned on the style.

Zverev netted a backhand slice : 0-15

Dan hit a short-angled inside out forehand to force Zverev outside the tramlines. Zverev respond with a very good passing shot down the line but Dan read it and with great hand skill just guided what could have been a very difficult half volley from the service line, into the open court : 0-30

A Zverev backhand deep into the Evo forehand corner had Dan on the stretch and producing a defensive response. Zverev then hit a topspin forehand off the short ball into the Evo backhand corner. How Dan even got there, I will never know. How he flicked a clean winner down the line, Zverev will never know. It was a beauty and for I moment I thought Zverev was going to give it the teapot with hands on hips. He was stunned : 0-40

Zverev reverted to type and tried to serve and volley. Big swinging lefty serve out wide to the Evo backhand. Dan, from a shoulder high ball, simply guided a backhand sliced passing shot down the line, right into the corner of base and sidelines for a clean winner : Game, Set and Match to Evo.

Does it get any better than that ? Not very often, I can assure you.

As I said previously, I am really loving Dan's demeanor on court right now. He seems to be really enjoying his tennis which is a credit not just to Dan, but also the coaching team he has built around him. All I can say is, long may it continue.

the addict wrote:

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Thanks Bob, always enjoy reading your first-hand reports

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Thanks.  Almost as much as I enjoy writing them, I expect