Dan Evans ready for a crack at Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon second round
His reward is a second career meeting with 24-time grand slam champion Djokovic – four years after he won their first in Monte Carlo.
'I think when they do the stats, it has to be over three matches to have a 100 per cent record, so we'll say I have a decent record,' smiled Evans.
'But five sets are a lot different to three sets, albeit it was a big tournament.'
Now 35, Evans says he is too long in the tooth to be overawed by another of the oldest swingers in town, 38-year-old Djokovic.
'I mean, there is no better place to do it than here,' he added. 'I've said all along, I would love one more.
'I had some fourth rounds, but my goal was to make the quarters of a grand slam. You don't always reach your goals, but I still believe I have a shot.
'This is his best surface, I imagine. It's going to be a tough match. But when I play the top guys, I don't change much about myself. It's not about them, it's about me. We're both competing for the same goal.
'I've got a lot of respect for Novak. He's a great champion. He's done wonders for the game. He's done pretty much everything in the game.
'But it's also my chance to win the match. I have to be competitive, I have to play my game, I have to be myself. I can't go into my shell and have too much respect.
'Of course I'm lucky I've been inside the top 50 for X amount of years before that, and I got the experience to play on the big courts.
'Yeah, I am a wild card, but I don't feel like I'm a wild card playing Novak. I still feel my level's really good.'
Winning at @Wimbledon never gets old 🗣️#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/u8nETRsAV3
— LTA (@the_LTA) July 1, 2025
Evans has endured a tough year on the court having slipped down the rankings to outside the top 150.
A calf injury curtailed his season last year and he spoke emotionally earlier in the week about starting to wonder whether the hard work he puts in every day is still worth it.
'Yeah, it's not that easy,' he added. 'The body obviously is getting older, as am I.
'I try the best with the team I have to be able to practice each day. It's not like this is the end product when you come to the tournament.
'You can't miss sessions because you just won't be good enough to win at these tournaments. You have to do the day in, day out stuff.
'Of course it gets harder. Things change a little, as well, in your training. But the last two, three months I've done a good job of it.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
12 minutes ago
- Times
Gambling firms under pressure to ban users trolling tennis stars
A British tennis player has demanded betting companies take tougher action against users found to be social media trolls as she revealed gamblers pile on the abuse if they lose money on her match. Jodie Burrage said she could not face looking at her phone after losing her first-round Wimbledon match on Tuesday. 'It's tough and today I'm trying not to look at my phone,' she said after losing to Caty McNally, 23, in straight sets. 'It's not easy to deal with, but I do think there could be more being done. 'I think there should be way more accountability if you have an account on any platform. I think it's very simple to have someone's ID connected to their account and that would, I think, quickly stop what people write and make them more accountable.'
Leader Live
22 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Wimbledon ‘looks like bad Photoshop', says ex-top judge as AI replaces humans
Pauline Eyre, 58, from Finchley in north London, officiated at 16 Wimbledons between 1988 and 2003, serving on Centre and Court One during finals and high-profile matches including Goran Ivanisevic vs Andre Agassi and Serena vs Venus Williams. She told the PA news agency she initially supported the idea of AI line-calling – but changed her mind after watching it in action this week. 'When I first heard about it, I wasn't that bothered – I thought it might improve standards,' she said. 'But as I've been watching the matches, I've changed my mind completely. I think it's a terrible shame.' 'It looks like bad Photoshop – like they've removed an essential part of the furniture,' she said. 'Line judges are part of how Wimbledon looks.' She pointed to Jelena Ostapenko's match against Sonay Kartal on Monday, saying: 'Ostapenko turned around after being foot-faulted – whipped round to have a go – and there was nobody there. ' With the crowd noise on big courts, she said the absence of visual confirmation from a person adds to player confusion. 'Players are standing there saying: 'Was that in? Was that out?' You don't get the immediate reaction – the fist pump – because they don't know.' Ms Eyre added: 'The sadness for me is that sport should be about people. 'The best sportspeople are the ones who overcome adversity – pigeons, crowd noise, pressure. 'Line judges were bloody good at what they did. 'They're there for no other reason than to escort players on and off the court. 'They were always dressed like butlers and that's basically what they are now. 'So many of my friends have told me they are watching the tournament this week and just feel a deep sadness.' She said many of her former colleagues feel unacknowledged: 'I don't think Wimbledon fought hard for them. 'They were such a massive part of the tournament – and it doesn't feel like they were valued.' Despite the criticism, she said the tennis remains high quality: 'The sport is still wonderful. 'I've got used to them not being there – but I'm not happy about it.'
BBC News
25 minutes ago
- BBC News
Impressive Kartal reaches Wimbledon third round
Sonay Kartal continued her impressive form at Wimbledon by becoming the first British player to reach round three this year with a dominant victory over Viktoriya two days of blistering heat the start to Wednesday's play was delayed by more than two hours because of rain in the once the action did begin British number three Kartal followed up her impressive first-round win against 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko by quickly despatching of Tomova 6-2 is the second year in a row Kartal has reached the third round at Wimbledon."I felt good in the warm-up and on court I felt good. I was seeing it and hitting it very clean. It was one of those good days in the office," Kartal said. "I wanted to back up the run I had last year. I wanted to show that I am at this level now and I can consistently play."The last couple of months I have thrown myself on the scene. This year I made a conscious effort to only play the bigger matches. I am feeling much more confidence in my game."After getting the first break of serve in the sixth game of the opening set Kartal really got into her stride, hitting some impressive winners that her opponent struggled to cope with before breaking again at 5-2 up to take the first did not get any better for Tomova in the second set as Kartal won the first four games to asset her managed to break Kartal's serve in the fifth game but it only delayed the Briton's march to an excellent up for Kartal is a match against world number 15 Diana Shnaider or qualifier Diane Parry.
