For most of his career, Dan Evans has been either proving people wrong or pleasing himself, but self-doubt has rarely haunted the bustling Birmingham court artist, at his best a free-hitting threat to anyone in the game.
On the first day of the 2017 Australian Open, Evans brought all his swagger and some of his sweary belligerence to tranquil Court 14 and imposed his will on Facundo Bagnis, a player he had neither watched nor met.
Away from the excitement unfolding elsewhere on a warm, cloying day at Melbourne Park, Evans won 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, 6-1 in just under two hours to reach the second round of the tournament for the first time. He saved three set points in the tie-break before taking the first with a withering forehand, then steadily outmanoeuvred the Argentinian left-hander with his beguiling mix of touch and power, hitting a peak of dominance at the end of the match.
Evans, who reached his first ATP Tour final in Sydney on Saturday and appreciated Tennis Australia flying him to Melbourne by private jet then allocating him a late-afternoon start, looks very much at home in his surroundings. This was Evans at his most adventurous, hitting just a few more winners, 39, than unforced errors, 33, with 14 aces and three double faults. His second serve was particularly impressive, varying it to the point where Bagnis was nonplussed as to where the ball might go.
Evans next plays the former US Open champion Marin Cilic, who survived an early scare before beating the big-serving Jerzy Janowicz 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
“It’s going to be tough, isn’t it?” Evans said in his matter-of-fact way. “The likelihood is he’s probably going to win, but we’ll see what happens. He obviously had a tough one today, so hopefully his body is pretty sore. And he lost in Chennai to a guy ranked not great [the world No110 Jozef Kovalik]. Hopefully I’ll get into the match, keep it close and take a chance. I should get a chance somewhere along the line. If I neutralise his serve, I’ll be happy with to be playing the points with him.”
He reckons Cilic will have taken notice of his excellent performance to stretch the ultimate champion, Stan Wawrinka, at the US Open last year, and concedes: “He’ll probably be more prepared for me.”
Evans does not go under the radar much any more. He almost defeated Wawrinka, who had to fight hard to beat the world No34 Martin Klizan 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 here, and his performance in Sydney also has alerted rivals to the threat his tennis poses, sometimes from the most unexpected situations, such as his fight back in the tie-break on Monday, when he looked beaten.
Nor does he crave attention away from the court. “Not really,” he said when asked if he might become a “terrace idol”.
He added: “I’m just happy to get the win. I’d be fine to not be noticed and just go along and hopefully keep winning. I don’t really like that sort of thing.”
He does not much like being called Daniel either, as the Australians insist on addressing him, in person and on the scoreboard. As Evans points out, his mother is the only person who does, and that usually is when he has been in trouble. “I’ve been called that a few times,” he admitted.
If he defeats Cilic on Wednesday, though, he probably would not care what people called him.
