Dan Evans' Sweet Revenge At US Open Tennis

British number three Dan Evans has said being told he wasn’t good enough to practise with Bernard Tomic inspired him to victory over the Australian at the US Open

The 23-year-old qualifier from Birmingham – ranked 179 – who had never won more than one match in qualifying at a grand slam before arriving in New York, has now won five in a row to reach the third round.

He built on three qualifying victories and a first round win over 11th seed Kei Nishikori by recovering from a set and a break down to defeat Tomic 1-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

After the win, Evans revealed that last year at the Masters tournament in Miami he had been due to practise with Tomic only to be told to leave by the Australian’s father John.

“I was there playing qualies,” said Evans. “His dad sort of fobbed me off and said I wasn’t good enough to practise with him. I remembered that.

“We went to practise, it was all booked. I got to the court. His dad said, ‘No, no, he’s a qualifier, I’m not hitting with you.’ It was a bit embarrassing.”

Tomic, who is ranked 127 places higher than Evans at 52, said afterwards: “It wasn’t nerves. I was pretty relaxed. He just played so slow, so strange, that I basically did what he did. I wasn’t very good at it, was I?”

Evans’ family and friends watched the five-set match against Tomic from West Warwickshire Sports Club.

And there were tears of joy from his sister Laura Kitching as the crowd leapt to its feet in cheers.

She told Sky News: “It’s absolutely unbelievable. I’m so proud, more than ecstatic. I can’t put it into words how I feel right now. I’m just so emotional. He’s just done so well.”

Evans’ next opponent is 19th seed Tommy Robredo, and victory there would more than likely set up a fourth round match against Roger Federer, with whom he has already practiced at the tournament.

Evans is guaranteed a £60,000 payout for getting into the third round.

Dan Evans' Sweet Revenge At US Open Tennis