Britain’s Dan Evans achieved the biggest victory of his career in Mote Carlo by defeating World No 1 Novak Djokovic in the last 16. Evans managed to seal the first set and was able to withstand a strong fightback from Djokovic in the second to eventually winning the match 6-4 7-5.
The British No 1 was certainly an underdog before the match, who has frequently struggled on clay. But this will give him great confidence for the rest of the tournament and heading into to French Open which is also played on clay.
“He gave away some cheap ones today, which he never normally does. But I’m just really happy; he kept me waiting a little bit in the changing room at the start of the match. That got me a bit extra fired up” said Evans.
In victory Evans became the first man to beat Djokovic this year and drew plaudits from numerous tennis journalists with BBC’s Russell Fuller calling it a ‘sublime clay court performance’.