Impressive Evans beats Tiafoe to reach last 16 at Queen’s

Great Britain’s Dan Evans made an impressive start to his Queen’s tournament by beating world number 13 Frances Tiafoe 7-5 6-2 to reach the last 16.

The victory was Evans’ first against a top-20 player since since he defeated world number 12 Alex de Minaur at the 2023 Davis Cup.

Evans is looking to rebuild his ranking, having dropped from a career-high 21st in the world a couple of years ago to 199th.

Given a wildcard entry at Queen’s he was handed a tough start against American Tiafoe, who reached the quarter-finals of the French Open this year.

Evans dropped more than 110 ranking spots last year when he opted to focus on partnering Andy Murray in the doubles at the Paris Olympics, so it was apt that this impressive display came at the arena named after the Scot.

The pair reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, with the match the last of Murray’s long and illustrious career.

Asked afterwards about how much Murray has inspired his own career, Evans said: “Not just mine but the whole of British tennis.

“He always has time for everyone and it’s fitting he has an arena called after him.”

Evans started strongly against Tiafoe, fending off a break point before securing the break himself at 3-3.

Tiafoe broke back immediately when Evans overcooked his forehand and momentum appeared to swing the American’s way in a 10-minute spell where his opponent had little answer to him.

But Evans, encouraged by the vocal home crowd, dug in and battled from 5-4 down to secure a second break before closing out the set – helped on his way by coming out on top of a gruelling 37-shot rally.

The momentum was now with Evans and a five-game winning streak put him 2-0 up at the start of the second set.

Evans got a stroke of luck at 3-1 up when his forehand clipped the net cord to drop over and secure a double break.

From then on he closed out the match before receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.