When Dan Evans steps out on Saturday to face the best player in the world on the biggest stage in the sport, he will likely enter Arthur Ashe Stadium reminding himself that Carlos Alcaraz is only human, that he too gets nervous, and there is no reason why he cannot use his tools to provoke those sensations.
“When I play on the tour I don’t think about what ranking people are,” he said. “I genuinely don’t. They’re normal people. To put it frankly they do exactly the same as what all of us do in the morning when they get out of bed. They’re very good at the sport but they still get nervous, they deal with it better than us. That’s what’s helped me when I’ve played better players.”
Evans reached the third round on Thursday after a solid performance against Botic van de Zandschulp, winning 1-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. This is the sixth time he has reached the third round in New York.
The past few weeks, however, have been particularly significant in the context of Evans’ career. Before the US hard court summer, it had been one of his most difficult periods since he returned from his doping ban after testing positive for cocaine.
Between February and July, Evans had compiled a dire five-win, 14-defeat record and he had lost in the first round at 12 of those events. After the French Open, a straight-sets loss to the world No 108, Thanasi Kokkinakis, he was deeply frustrated and at a loss about how to dig himself out of the hole. He eventually opted to split from his coach, Sebastián Prieto, and the rest of his Argentinian team.
But things can change very quickly in tennis. After starting his North American hard-court swing with a first round loss to the world No 88, Dominic Köpfer, in Atlanta, Evans headed to Washington, an ATP 500 event, where he lost the first set to Grégoire Barrère 6-2.
Suddenly, everything clicked into place. He breezed through the rest of the week without dropping a set, defeating top opposition in Frances Tiafoe and Grigor Dimitrov, world Nos 10 and 20 respectively, while playing perhaps the best tennis of his entire career. His smooth, varied and attacking all-court game was in full flow as he won his biggest title to date.
Evans credits a late-night conversation he had with his friends, Ben Haran and Nathan Rooney, after his first round contest against Quentin Halys at Wimbledon had been halted mid-match with Evans trailing. “It was simple stuff and that was it,” he said. “Then we ate a good Chinese and went back the next day. Sometimes it’s not all in the coaching manual, it’s different folks for different strokes, as they say.”
As Evans tries to focus on his opponents’ humanity, he has seen proof that Alcaraz can be just like him. Before Wimbledon, he was playing a nine-hole golf course when Alcaraz and his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, appeared and asked to join in.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Evans noted that Ferrero was a considerably better golfer than his charge and, not unlike on the court, he spent their entire time coaching Alcaraz around the course, ”His golf is much better than mine, that’s for sure,” said Alcaraz of Evans.
Evans said: “He says hello, is polite, very well-mannered, a very good ambassador for tennis. He’s not put a foot wrong, on or off the court, he promotes the game very well. He shows emotion at times as well which is nice as well, he’s not a robot. That’s important.”
Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki’s comeback continued to pick up steam as she followed up her big win over Petra Kvitova by defeating home favourite Jennifer Brady 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to return to the fourth round.
“I said this in my last match but I didn’t think I was gonna be here again,” she said. “When I retired a few years ago and when I had my kids, I thought I would only be watching from the outside. But to be able to play here, and now I’ve gotten two matches in here, what an honour this is.”
Iga Swiatek, the No 1 seed, also moved on by showing no mercy against Kaja Juvan, her best friend, advancing with a 6-0, 6-1 win. Frances Tiafoe, the 10th seed, reached the fourth round by edging past 22nd seed Adrian Mannarino 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (6).
