By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- Quentin Halys def Dan Evans [27] 6-2 6-3 6-7(5) 6-4
LONDON, ENGLAND – Dan Evans admitted that he is looking forward to spending time with friends and family after a four set defeat to Quentin Halys at Wimbledon.
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Quentin Halys def Dan Evans [27] 6-2 6-3 6-7(5) 6-4
Dan Evans suffered a first round elimination at Wimbledon for a second consecutive year after he lost in four sets to Quentin Halys. The match started on Monday on No. 2 Court as Evans looked to put his recent poor form behind him. However the 27th seed wasn’t able to in the early stages as he was dominated by the effective serving of Halys. The Frenchman took an early break lead and consolidated to take a 4-1 lead.
Evans looked to find a way back as he produced some clean winners on serve in the next game but the Brit was rushing his game. There seemed to be no real ideas from the Brit as Halys continued to hit winners past the Brit with the Frenchman breaking again in the seventh game to seal the opening set in 32 minutes.
The second set had a similar pattern to it as the forehand of Evans kept breaking down as he produced countless unforced errors. Just like in the opening set Evans was broken in the fourth game thanks to a forehand unforced error into the net. Halys continued to remain efficient on serve as he produced three aces in the next game to consolidate for a 4-1 lead.
As Halys kept holding serve, Evans looked demoralised as he couldn’t find solutions to his erratic style of play. Unlike the first set though, there was more fighting spirit from Evans as he was determined to get back into the match and prevent a two set deficit. There was more security from Evans on the backhand side as he was more intelligent with his shot selection.
The 27th seed had four break points in the ninth game but once again produced too many unforced errors in the pressure moments. Eventually Evans was punished for his missed opportunities as Halys converted his third break point to take a two set lead as the Brit was left frustrated and disappointed.
Luckily for Evans bad light stopped play for the day and would return to Centre Court the next evening as rain prevented him from returning to No.2 Court. The one day difference seemed to make a difference to Evans’ serving consistency and attitude as he was pumped up, starting the third set with a couple of aces. The Brit felt reassured from the baseline and knew what he wanted to achieve as he saved an early break point to hold for 2-1.
Evans missed some half-opportunities in the third set to break but that didn’t seem to matter too much as the Brit provided more stability on the forehand side. There was not much to separate the two players as the third set would be decided by a tiebreak. This time around it was Halys who produced unforced errors in critical moments as the Frenchman saw his mini-break lead disappear. Evans capitalised on Halys’ erratic play on the backhand as he sealed the tiebreak 7-5 and took the third set to the delight of the Centre Crowd.
All the momentum was with Evans in the fourth set as he had multiple opportunities to take control of the set as Halys wasn’t playing with the same aggression and intent. However Evans couldn’t convert his opportunities and to the 27th seed’s frustration he was made to pay in the tenth game.
A double fault from the Brit set up match points which Halys converted with a forehand return winner to seal victory for the Frenchman and defeat for Evans which is his second consecutive round one exit at Wimbledon.
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Evans looking forward to spending time with family after Wimbledon exit
A second consecutive Wimbledon first round exit for Evans means he has a lot of thinking to do ahead of the US hard court swing. After the match Evans admitted it’s frustrating that he left himself with a lot to do on Tuesday but credit Halys for his performance.
“You know, it’s obviously not intentional. It’s tennis, isn’t it? You need to put your game on the court whenever you get a chance in a five-set match, and I didn’t do it for the first two sets,” Evans said in his press conference.
“That’s a bit ultimately which let me down. But I had chances in the fourth to, you know, to get ahead. I think, you know, for the match I was 0 from 5 on breakpoints, something like this. You know, I nearly did a good job to equal up the match.
“Yeah, of course you look back at yesterday, I wasn’t very good at all. I have to give him credit. He played very well, and it’s frustrating, but that’s, you know, why I have to keep coming back and putting my game on the court.”
It’s been a difficult last couple of months for Evans who will now look to bounce back in North America where he has done well previously. The Brit’s focus now will be to spend time with family and friends and admitted his current run of form is ‘annoying.’
“But if I’m losing, which I am at the minute, you know, I wouldn’t say I’ve hit a wall, it’s frustrating, it’s annoying, it’s whatever, but I’m not sure what else you can do,” Evans explained.
“You’ve just got to keep competing. It’s is no good practicing, I tried that. I tried to take Eastbourne off and took Nottingham off, and first round, first round, it’s incredibly frustrating.
“No, I think now it’s important to spend time with family, friends. Tennis won’t be on my agenda for a little while. You know, it’s been a long six months or seven months, whatever it is. It’s important to recharge and get ready for a good swing in America, which I enjoy. But it’s important to rest, as well. Yeah, that’s all I’m really going to do for a bit and then start back up.
“You know, it’s important to step away sometimes, to live a bit of a normal life and get away from living out of a suitcase for a long time.”
Evans’ first job after his break from tennis is to hire a new coaching team before going to America to begin the second half of the season.
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