Dan Evans, the 26-year-old Briton for whom struggling has so often been a way of life, pulled off the finest victory of his tennis career on Thursday.
The 26-year-old electrician's son from Birmingham crushed Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-1 to set up a third-round clash with Roger Federer.
Having posted his first win at Wimbledon by defeating Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in four sets in the first round, Evans has now equalled his best showing at a Grand Slam (US Open 2013).
But there has surely not been anything to equal the fashion in which he demolished an opponent ranked No.33, which is 58 places higher than his own standing in the world.
Dolgopolov certainly helped Evans on his way by playing poorly at times, but all too often he was simply overwhelmed by the pace, power and sheer strutting confidence emanating from the British man.
Evans walloped 13 aces, crafted his points beautifully and his concentration and determination never wavered. If he has ever played better than that he certainly couldn’t recall it.
“It felt like it all just went into one, flowed pretty well. I probably won’t realise how well I played until I watch it myself,” Evans said.
They had resumed after their overnight rain delay tantalisingly poised at 6-6 in the first set, with the tie-break to come. Evans seized the momentum in that with a brace of aces and was assisted to his one-set lead by a couple of Ukrainian double faults.
From there Evans simply revved up, winning five successive games to claim the second set and completely dominating the third against demoralised opposition.
At the end he lofted a ball into the stands and clenched a raised fist for what seemed like the 100th time in a memorable match. Done and dusted before lunch, not a bad morning’s work.
Losing to Federer on Friday would still see him collecting a cheque for £80,000. Should he see off the great man there is the incentive of upping his winnings into six figures. “It’s going to be a great, great experience,” he said.
“I’ll enjoy every minute of it, whatever the score. It would be stupid to say it’s not a special occasion to play him. I just have to prepare myself as best I can and put to the back of my head that it’s Roger I’m playing. Go out and give it my best. I’m not going to go out there to be just another guy he rolls. I’m going to put up a good fight hopefully.”
Evans has suddenly come a long way from the grind of the Challenger circuit in places like Egypt, Korea and Drummondville, Canada. But in one respect it has been a long process, first the realisation about 18 months ago that he was not putting in enough hard work.
“I just wasn’t ready for the commitment of day in, day out. There have been bad times in the last year. It is a grind at times, but now I’m enjoying it, just doing the right stuff on and off the court. I still like a night out, but just do it at the right time.”
Evans feels that other British players “should look at putting a bit of extra time in because this Wimbledon has opened people’s eyes that’ we’re actually pretty good at tennis. I think British tennis is definitely going upwards.”
Follow the latest news and scores from Wimbledon 2016 on Wimbledon.com or Apple TV, or download the official IOS or Android apps for smartphone and tablet.