Dan Evans’ quest to reach the second week of Wimbledon for the first time will have to wait another year after he was undone on Friday by a man who may yet become the next American hope, Sebastian Korda.
The 20-year-old, who reached the fourth round at Roland Garros last year, equalled that achievement with a powerful, mature performance that no doubt will have made his father, watching in the stands, enormously proud.
“It’s more disappointment than anything really right now,” said British No 1 Evans, who led 4-2 in the fourth set before bowing out 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“It was a good chance to have a decent run. I think I didn’t turn up really. It’s difficult.”
When it comes to the gene pool, Korda is perhaps second only to the children of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. The son of Petr Korda, the former Australian Open champion, and of Regina Rajchrtova, the former world No 26, Korda is also the brother of Nelly Korda, the new world No 1 golfer and US PGA champion and Jessica Korda, who is also on the USA Olympic team.
Genes give you the athleticism, the physicality. What Korda has, on top of all that, though, is a wise head on young shoulders and an ability to stay calm under pressure. Korda, who turns 21 on Monday, showed impressive maturity to clinch victory in front of his father and end Evans’ hopes of making it into round four.
It was the third time Evans has lost in the third round at Wimbledon. In 2016, he lost to Roger Federer - no shame there - and then in 2019, having done brilliantly to recover his ranking after serving a one-year ban in 2017 following a positive test for cocaine, he lost out to Joao Sousa of Portugal in five sets.
On Friday, Evans played some good stuff, at times, but more often than not, he was on the back foot, responding to Korda rather than taking the initiative. It was something he could sense happening, but could do nothing to change.
“I felt pretty good (beforehand),” he said. “I just think maybe I was a little defensive, let him play the tennis. That probably would have been my frustration last time I lost in 2019. So, yeah, it’s difficult.
“He plays good tennis. It’s a tough one to take really. I didn’t really play my game. I think I went to the net a handful of times. That’s not the best version of myself.”
Korda will play Karen Khachanov of Russia in the last 16 and on the evidence of his effort against Evans, he will fancy his chances of going even further. As well as a fine serve, excellent forehand and easy power, he went to the net on 40 occasions and won 28 of them, a sign both of his intent and how much his game is suited to grass.
“Not bad,” he said, of a first appearance on Centre Court. “I just stayed calm in the biggest moments as much I could. I stayed relaxed, played attacking tennis as much as I could and I’m really proud of myself today.
“It’s a big achievement, a year ago I was No 220 in the world, now I’m in the fourth round at Wimbledon. I have my family to thank, my coaches too. My dad won a grand slam, my sister just won her first golf major and is No 1 in the world. It’s super-exciting, it’s crazy.”
From 3-3 in the first set, Korda broke twice to take it but Evans, getting vocal in an attempt to get the crowd even more on his side, hit back to take the second. But Korda remained calm, took the second and every time Evans got a break, he snatched it straight back, clinching a well-deserved victory in the end to reach the last 16 for the first time.
