Britain’s Daniel Evans reacts after winning a point during his Men’s singles third round match against Australia’s Bernard Tomic |
Dan Evans continued his fairytale run at Melbourne Park by downing local world number 27 Bernard Tomic 7-5 7-6(2) 7-6(3) on Friday to give Britain two men in the last 16 of the Australian Open for the first time in 16 years.
The 26-year-old, who upset seventh seed Marin Cilic in the second round, prevailed at the end of a thrilling two-hour 48-minute battle in a highly-charged atmosphere on Hisense Arena to end Australiaโs interest in the menโs singles draw.
Evans refused to play on and insisted the stadium roof be closed when rain started falling on the court late in the third set but recovered his composure to win the tiebreak and set up a meeting with Franceโs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
World number one Andy Murrayโs 6-4 6-2 6-4 win over Sam Querrey preceded Evansโs match on the same court, ensuring a double British presence in the fourth round for the first time since Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski in 2001.