Dan Evans savours memorable day at Paris 2024 after pair of victories

Tennis 28 Jul 24

Fun-loving Dan Evans hopes his mischievous relationship with rowdy flatmate Jack Draper can fire him towards a medal at the Olympics.

The Birmingham tennis ace, 34, battled past Tunisian Moez Echargui in a tough three-set tussle in Paris on Sunday.

Away from the Roland-Garros clay, Evans has been sharing an apartment with British teammate Draper – who also advanced in his first round clash – a player 12 years younger than him who has been keeping him busy as the Games get underway.

Evans lifted the lid on life alongside the highly-rated British No.1 and after deciding to skip a rain-soaked opening ceremony on the Seine, says there’s never a dull moment as he bids to cap a memorable Olympic debut in France.

“We’re somehow swindled an apartment - we all have our own rooms which is quite lucky,” said Draper, who also played men’s doubles with Andy Murray last night.

“I’ve seen a bit of Jack – he can get after it at some strange times.

“I wake up early but he wants to have a full-blooded argument at 11pm when we’re trying to settle down!

“He storms in when he’s been sitting on his bed for four hours and gets fired up.

“I didn’t go to the opening ceremony – and I’m winding Jack up as they all got rained on the whole night.

“That’s an example, Jack came in at 11pm saying it’s the best night of his life.

“No one has ever said it’s the best night of their life when they’re rained on all night!

“It soon went down to top five.”

Evans has endured a difficult season and exited Wimbledon at the first hurdle earlier this year but he roared back to life in Paris to edge past Echargui, 31, 6-4 2-6 6-4.

Evans survived a minor injury scare in the second set but held himself together to safely navigate his way to the next round, before getting back on court to progress in the men's doubles alongside Murray in dramatic fashion.

The pair won seven straight points, saving five match points in the process, to dramatically clinch a ten-point tie-break decider against Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel.

He said: “I’ve never saved five match points in a row and I never will again – he certainly won’t! If it happens next match, I’m out!

“It’s unbelievable he’s done it in doubles – it pretty much sums him up.

“It’s something I’ll remember forever but it would be amazing if we could go on to do something really special this week.

“I never thought we’d lost – when he hit that ace at 9-6 I really started to believe.

“Of course it’s got to be [up there] – but lets not make it one match, lets make it another and see how we go.

“I’m super pumped – it was a tough match, unfortunate to be down in the breaker but when we played well in the match it wasn’t just one, it was both.

“He knows it’s his last tournament so sometimes he might think about that, a lot of emotions, but he did a great job of getting us up and the crowd involved.”

Elsewhere, Draper eased into the next round of the singles with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Nishikori, but it was defeat for fellow British No.1 Katie Boulter.

She lost 6-4 6-2 to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova but reflected on an unforgettable Olympic experience that can still continue in the doubles alongside Heather Watson.

She said: “It’s been an incredible experience all week.

“I’m not feeling too great right now but I’m sure I’ll pick myself up and look after myself for the next couple of days.

“Honestly I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it – it’s been an experience I will never ever forget in any way, shape or form.

“To represent your country in any way is such a privilege for me, so I hope I get to do it many more times.

“We’ve met quite a few of the different sports which is super interesting for me to learn from.

“It’s definitely been a special experience.

“We were all on the boat at the opening ceremony, throwing ourselves into the situation and enjoying every second of it.

“Doubles will pick me up – Heather will get me back out there, so I’m really looking forward to that.”

Sportsbeat 2024

Tags