Emotional Evans claims superb Paul win at Eastbourne

An emotional Dan Evans said he had been waiting for a chance to prove himself in a tricky season after earning an impressive win over world number 13 Tommy Paul at Eastbourne.

The 35-year-old beat the former Queen’s champion 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the late afternoon sunshine to reach the quarter-finals.

It comes two weeks after Evans beat world number 14 Francis Tiafoe at Queen’s, while he also beat a top 50 player in Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in round one at Eastbourne.

Evans threw his arms wide in celebration after securing victory in front of a jubilant home crowd, before becoming visibly tearful in his on-court interview.

“I felt good serving for the match,” he said. “I just said to myself, enjoy this – I stopped worrying about what he was doing, and I played good tennis in the end.

“I know I have done the work. Once I got confidence, the work was in the bank.

Evans, who has a main-draw wildcard for Wimbledon, has just returned to the top 200 after a difficult few years.

The Englishman managed his nerves as the tension built against Paul. Evans hit just 17 winners to the American’s 31, but he also committed 26 unforced errors compared to Paul’s 43.

He will aim to be even more clinical when he faces American lucky loser Jenson Brooksby in the quarter-finals.

Earlier, Billy Harris continued his recent Eastbourne joy as the Englishman reached the quarter-finals for the second successive year.

Harris, who reached the main draw as a lucky loser having lost in qualifying, beat Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-3 6-4.

Harris will face French fourth-seed Ugo Humbert next and could potentially meet Evans in the semi-finals.

But British number two Jacob Fearnley suffered a chastening defeat by Marcus Giron.

The American dispatched Fearnley 6-3 6-1, with the Scot hitting five double faults and losing his serve five times.