Dan Evans reveals he is ‘hurting all over’ after coming through longest match in US Open history – and insists: ‘I’ll remember it forever!’
Dan Evans has shown some incredible escape tricks with Andy Murray at the Olympics, but this was his best trick yet – and a comeback that the great Scot himself would have been proud of.
In the longest match in US Open history, Evans trailed Karen Khachanov 4-0, 40-15 in the deciding set but won six games in a row.
“It was a hell of a match,” Evans said. “I just tried to keep fighting. I thought I was out, felt sorry for myself and tried to get myself going. I didn’t want to go into a Slam with no fight, a whimper after… I don’t even know how long the match lasted.
“I saw he was struggling a bit and I just tried to grab a game each time. My serve was obviously very, very, very bad because of my body, I have a terrible headache now.”
He will have to recover from this five-hour and 35-minute spectacle so that he can play against the Argentine Mariano Navone tomorrow.
Dan Evans celebrates his victory over Karen Khachanov in a historic US Open match
Evans reaches out to his partner Aleah in the audience after the five-hour, 35-minute epic
Evans was exhausted at the end of the match – but will play again on Wednesday
“I was really sore all over. I’ll have some discomfort for the next few hours. I’m proud to be reasonably fit, so I hope it’ll be okay.”
Evans was visibly fading at 4-0 down in the final set, but he chipped and volleyed his way back into the match, surpassing the record of five hours and 26 minutes set by Stefan Edberg and Michael Chang in the 1992 semifinals when Evans won 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4.
Evans, 34, had not won a tour match since March and has even talked about a possible retirement, but what an achievement it was. He relishes the challenge of chopping a bigger man to pieces and has won all five of his meetings with Khachanov.
“When you’re a kid, you’re just told to fight to the end,” he said. “That’s rule number one. I’ve done that pretty consistently in my career and it paid off today.
“Just a crazy, crazy match. It’s one I’ll remember forever, but I really don’t want to do that again, that’s for sure.”