Dan Evans beats Marcos Giron to reach the third round at the US Open

British No 1 Dan Evans equals his best performance at the US Open by scrapping out a victory over America’s Marcos Giron to reach the third round

Low on confidence, on the way back from Covid and missing his girlfriend, Dan Evans was unsure whether this would be his week.

Yet now the British number one is through to the third round of the US Open for the fourth time after scrapping out a 6-4, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 victory over America’s Marcos Giron on Wednesday night.

Evans was slightly emotional in his immediate post-match interview, having nicked the fourth set at the death following an unforeseen rash of errors from his opponent.

The inability to go deep into a Grand Slam these past two years has gnawed away at him, and along comes another chance to put that right. He will take on strapping Australian Alex Popyrin, who he defeated in the more favourable conditions of Queen’s Club’s grass courts this summer.

‘I was struggling after Covid, I had no confidence,’ Evans told Amazon Prime, after messaging his partner Aleah back in England. ‘I have done a god job to hang in and just practice each day if I say it myself, so winning meant a lot. I thought it was a good level match, the third round of any Grand Slam is exciting.’

As in his opening match, Evans’s energy and concentration levels were undulating, a possible legacy of having the virus not long after Wimbledon.

His results have been modest since then but against world number 73 he has a good opportunity to make the second week at a Major. The only time he has done that before was at the 2017 Australian Open, not long before his year-long suspension from the tour.

It was beginning to look like hard work towards the end of the fourth and he had already requested a visit from the trainer after jarring his foot in the court.

Giron, a speedy baseliner, was looking more and more confident but when Evans just held on for 4-3 the American played a horrendous game to gift him a break. The number 27 seed then summoned up enough composure to serve it out.

With Evans from the Midlands and Giron from California the rain which interrupted the match would have been something the British player would be more familiar with.

The start was delayed by an hour and when it began under ashen skies it seemed only a matter of time before they would be forced off the court.

Evans was the more pro-active, always trying to create an opportunity to rush his opponent and scurry into the net, where his delicate hands are such an asset.

He was good value for the first set but then retreated into his shell to fall 4-1 behind in the second. By the time they needed to go off for nearly an hour he had broken back for 4-3.

The plan of denying the American pace and bounce by using the sliced backhand was one he is well-suited to, and the tiebreak approached before there was another brief stoppage, during which they stayed on court.

Evans had lost his previous three tiebreaks, going back to Wimbledon, but he made no mistake this time in getting ahead to a 3-0 lead, which he converted to 7-3.

His serve, an impressive shot for one of relatively diminutive stature in the modern game, had been in good working order, but as in the previous set he let it slip early in the third to fall behind.

With the temperature rising and the ball bouncing higher, Evans was forced to hang in the fourth set as his opponent became increasingly aggressive. The match looked destined for a final set when, from nowhere, the American suddenly began errors that were gratefully accepted. 

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