British number three Dan Evans believes he has come through a difficult period in his career after beating world number seven Marin Cilic at the Australian Open.
The 26-year-old caused a massive upset to beat the former US Open champion 3-6 7-5 6-3 6-3 and reach the third round.
It comes after a struggle at the end of 2016 following a heartbreaking defeat by Stan Wawrinka at the US Open.
“There were some tough times after the Wawrinka match,” he said.
“I still think about that match on the court today. It’s not easy when you had the opportunity to sort of close out the big match and then lose.
“Yeah, I’m happy it happened. But, you know, hopefully there will be no more dark times, as you put it.”
World number 51 Evans squandered a match point in the fourth set of his third-round match with two-time Grand Slam champion Wawrinka in September.
He was devastated afterwards and went on to finish the year with three defeats from four matches – all against lower-ranked opposition.
But he is now into the third round of a Grand Slam for only the fourth time of his career – and the first time in Melbourne.
Evans said the victory over Cilic was the “biggest” of his career as he joined compatriot Andy Murray in the third round.
He did it wearing shirts and shorts bought from a shop after his kit deal with Nike expired in December and was not renewed by the sports clothing company.
“I just went to the store and bought a load of clothes the other day, plain clothes,” he said.
“What was it, Sunday? Sunday or Saturday, yeah. £19.99, the shirts are.
“I think I bought about 18 shirts, something like that. I went back this morning to buy some more. They’re not the best quality, to sweat in and wash.
“I only wore one shirt today. I’m good until Friday.”
Evans will face Australian Tomic in the last 32, a man he beat in four sets in the second round of the 2013 US Open.
It was a win the Birmingham player enjoyed, after the world number 27’s father suggested he was not good enough to have a practice hit with his son.
“I’m not going to bother saying anything about that again. He confronted me about that. We’ll leave it at that,” he said on Wednesday.
“I’d say it’s a 50-50 match. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to playing him.”
Kei Nishikori must have learned his lesson. After playing a five-set opener in the Melbourne heat on Monday, the Japanese avoided such serious tension during his second-round match, dismissing Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in just over two hours on Wednesday at the Australian Open.
Nishikori saved six of nine break points faced and made Chardy work all match long on his serve. The fifth-seeded Nishikori converted seven of 18 break points against the 29-year-old Chardy, who was trying to reach the third round in Melbourne for the third time.
Nishikori moves through to the third round for the seventh consecutive year. But the 27-year-old Shimane native has bigger targets in mind for this Melbourne visit. Nishikori will try to improve on his best showing at the Australian Open, the quarter-finals in 2012, 2015, 2016. He’ll next face Israel’s Dudi Sela or Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko next.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played more efficiently than even Nishikori. The Frenchman, who reached the Melbourne final in 2008 (l. to Djokovic), spent one hour and 45 minutes on court during a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 rout against Serbian Dusan Lajovic.
The 31-year-old Tsonga crushed 39 winners to only 25 unforced errors. He’s now reached the third round at Melbourne Park nine times. Tsonga will next meet American Jack Sock or #NextGenATP star Karen Khachanov.
| Australian Open 2017 |
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| Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan |
| Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website. |
Defending champion Angelique Kerber survived an onslaught from fellow German Carina Witthoeft to advance to the Australian Open third round.
Kerber – top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time – struggled with her serve in a second-set tie-break before prevailing 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-2.
The top seed, who was 29 on Wednesday, faces Czech Kristyna Pliskova next.
Venus Williams advanced 6-3 6-2 against Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele to reach the third round for a 13th time.
Williams, who played her first Australian Open in 1998, is the oldest woman in the singles draw at 36 and is competing in her 73rd Grand Slam.
“I have to talk about my age every interview!” the American said. “I’ve played some of the greats.”
“It’s an honour and privilege to start that young, and play this old.”
She later pulled out of the doubles competition with her sister Serena as a precaution to rest a sore elbow.
The 17th seed has never won the title, with her best result coming in 2003 when she was runner-up to Serena.
She will next play Duan Yingying after the Chinese player beat Varvara Lepchenko 6-1 3-6 10-8.
World number one Kerber has started the year in less-than-convincing style, going out in the last eight in Brisbane and the second round in Sydney.
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And Witthoeft, 21, posed a far more serious challenge in this meeting than in the 6-0 6-0 defeat she suffered against her compatriot at Wimbledon 2015.
After a frustrated Kerber coughed up successive double faults in the tie-break, Witthoeft’s powerful groundstrokes took the opening game of the decider against serve.
But Kerber won the next four to regain control and avoid an upset.
“To have this pressure is a privilege. It’s completely new for me, but I’m doing well. I’m just trying to enjoy it,” she said.
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