By Tony Fairbairn
- Dan Evans def Andrey Rublev [5] 6-4 6-4
- Evans v Taylor Fritz [10] | H2H: Tied at 1-1
MONTREAL, CANADA – Dan Evans continued his good form in North America with a straight sets win over Andrey Rublev and now has a rematch with Taylor Fritz in the last 16.
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Dan Evans def Andrey Rublev [5] 6-4 6-4
Dan Evans has continued his good form over the US hard court season as he knocked out fifth seed Andrey Rublev to reach the last 16 in Montreal. Evans made a good start to the match as he put the out of sorts Russian under pressure early on especially with his return positioning. Three double faults in the opening game from Rublev saw Evans gain the early break.
Evans’ confidence was there to see as he continued to march through his service games with aggressive winners mixed with good net play. However Rublev would bounce back in the sixth game as he ground out the errors from Evans’ racket as he broke to love for 3-3. That mini-setback didn’t seem to affect the Brit too much though as he continued his confident ball-striking and earned the immediate break back as Rublev continued to make unforced errors.
Rublev once again threatened with some consistent power as he continued to create good angles to open the court up. Despite that Evans continued to control the tempo of most of the rallies as he saved two break points to hold for 5-3. Rublev started to find some consistent momentum on serve but it was too little too late as Evans served out the set to love to take it 6-4.
The second set was a similar story as Rublev’s service jitters continued as Evans broke for a 2-1 lead. As Rublev continued to verbally berate his coaching team, Evans gained more and more confidence as he cruised through his service games. The Brit’s dominant baseline play matched with aggressive approaches into the net saw him drop only one point on serve after the break as he cruised into the last 16 in Canada for the first time in his career.
Dan Evans v Taylor Fritz [10] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Dan Evans v Taylor Fritz [10] | H2H: Tied at 1-1 |
| ATP Montreal | Montreal, Canada |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $79,745 |
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Evans now has a rematch with Taylor Fritz from their contest in Washington last week in which Evans was 4-1 up in the final set before the American retired.
Tale of the Tape – Key Stats (2022 – Clay)
| H2H: | Dan Evans (WR 39) | Taylor Fritz (WR 13) |
| Tournament Previous Best | R2 (2019) | R1 (2016, 2019, 2021) |
| 1st Serve % | 61 | 62.5 |
| Service Games Won % | 74.6 | 82.7 |
| Break Points Saved % | 54.5 | 61.6 |
| 2nd Serve Return Points Won % | 51.8 | 55.7 |
| Break Points Converted % | 42.9 | 39.2 |
Evans has been clinical when it comes to taking break point opportunities but will need to be wary of Fritz’s efficiency on return.
Playing Styles and Prediction
Fritz has had a good season on US hard courts having won the ATP masters 1000 event at Indian Wells earlier in the year. A health scare against Evans last week would have been a setback to the American’s confidence but the American has been on good form and will fancy his chances at winning another title this week.
Evans will look to continue his confidence and aggression on return in this match as he will look to extend the rallies as much as possible to test Fritz’s fitness. The American will look to serve well and continue his confidence in long and short rallies against the Brit as he has done for much of this year. It should be a tight match between two confident players but Evans just about has the edge heading into this contest.
Prediction: Evans in three sets.
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