Emotional Evans beats second seed Paul at Eastbourne

After capturing the world’s No. 13 Tommy Paul in Eastbourne with an impressive win, an emotional Dan Evans declared that he had been waiting for a chance to prove himself in a difficult season.

In the late afternoon sunshine, the 35-year-old advanced to the quarter-finals by defeating the former Queen’s champion 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Two weeks prior, Evans defeated world number 14 Frances Tiafoe at Queen’s, and he also defeated Miomir Kecmanovic from Serbia in round one at Eastbourne.

After winning in front of a cheering home crowd, Evans threw his arms wide in celebration before appearing visibly teary during an on-court interview.

He said, “It was a good match to serve for.” I simply said to myself, “Enjoy this,” and I ended up playing good tennis.

“I am certain that I have carried out the task. The work was in the bank once I gained confidence.

After briefly falling out, Evans, who has a main-draw wildcard for Wimbledon, has just resurrected. Two years ago, he was ranked among the top 30.

As Paul’s tension grew, the Englishman threw his fist on. Evans added 26 unforced errors to Paul’s 43, which compared to Paul’s 17 winners.

When he faces American champion loser Jenson Brooksby in the quarter-finals, he will aim to be even more patient.

Billy Harris’ recent success at Eastbourne was matched up by the Englishman’s second-straight quarter-finals.

Mattia Bellucci defeated Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, in the main draw as a lucky loser.

Next up is French fourth seed Ugo Humbert, who could face Evans in the semi-finals.

However, Marcos Giron, the second-ranked British citizen, humiliated Jacob Fearnley.

The Scot hit five double faults and lost his serve five times, sweeping past Fearnley 6-3, 6-1.