Evan Hoyt’s maiden Wimbledon just keeps on getting better and better after the 24-year old from Llanelli booked his place in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles.
Hoyt, partnering Eden Silva, came back from a set down to beat Joran Vliegen of Belgium and Saisai Zheng of China 5-7 7-6 6-4 in front of a patriotic crowd on Court 2.
The British pair blew a 4-1 lead in the opening set but managed to gather themselves and strike back in the second. That said, five set points came and went before they were finally able to square the match in a second set tie-break.
The deciding third proved to be a slightly more comfortable affair with Hoyt successfully serving for the match after two hours and eight minutes play.
There were certainly no signs of any of the shoulder problems that have dogged Hoyt’s career in the past, with his serve regularly passing the 120 miles per hour mark.
So long as that weapon keeps on firing, and Silva continues to hold her own service games, then the pair have every chance of making – if not winning – the final.
Now Hoyt is hoping that their last eight tie – whoever it may be against – will be scheduled for one of Wimbledon’s big show courts.
“It’s really good playing out there on Court 2 in front of a big crowd, but everyone dreams of playing Centre (Court) or even Court 1,” says Hoyt. “If we could get that, then I certainly wouldn’t complain!
“They (Vliegen and Zheng) really pushed us today. In fact that was probably the toughest match we’ve had yet. But we knew a bit about them and our plan came off.
“You learn things about yourself in a first set like that. I’m really proud of the way we came back, especially the way Eden played. Yeah, why can’t we go all the way?”
