Davis Cup: Daniel Evans and Arthur Fils, what tension!
09/18/2023 06:00 PM
Daniel Evans at the center of much controversy. The British tennis player was the protagonist of a tough match against Arthur Fils, valid for qualification to the Davis Cup quarter-finals.
In one of the most hard-fought and heartfelt matches of the last day of qualifying, a generational clash between the 33-year-old Briton and the Frenchman born in 2004, the stakes were quite important, given that with a success France could have gained the pass for the next round.
After an excellent start by the Frenchman, who moved ahead by a set and a break, Evans, carried away by the support of the Manchester crowd, made a spectacular comeback, prevailing with a score of 3-6 6-3 6-4 in two hours and six minutes of play.
At the end of the match, the Englishman let out a liberating celebration to shake hands with his opponent, who however responded with a very cold greeting at the net, not even looking at the home tennis player in the face.
Evans did not accept the reaction of the young French challenger, and took revenge by directing a sort of mocking laugh right in Fils' face. However, everything was resolved with a very sporting greeting between the two teams.
Daniel Evans was decisive for Great Britain's qualification: in addition to his success in singles, the British tennis player won the decisive doubles together with Skupski against the expert transalpine pair Mahut and Roger-Vasselin, in another comeback match won 8-6 in the tiebreak of the third set, thus making up for Norrie's defeat against Humbert.
Daniel Evans' seasonA MUST WATCH: THAT HANDSHAKE FROM FILS TO EVANS, AND DAN’S REACTION 😂😭
— Olly 🎾🇬🇧 (@OllyTennis) September 17, 2023
Evans reaches the third round of the Australian Open again and is eliminated by Rublev. After a series of defeats in the opening round, in April he reached the semi-finals in Marrakech and lost in three sets to Roberto Carballes Baena.
He also reached the semi-final in Barcelona with successes over world nº 11 Karen Khachanov and Francisco Cerundolo and collected only 4 games against the winner of the tournament Carlos Alcaraz.
He won 1 of the following 8 matches and returned to the spotlight in August, reaching his first final in an ATP 500 at the Washington Open thanks to successes in the quarterfinals over top 10 player Frances Tiafoe and in the semifinals over Grigor Dimitrov.
He triumphed in the final by defeating Tallon Griekspoor 7-5 6-3, thus winning the second title of his career on the major circuit and bringing his best ranking to 21st position.