While Andy Murray battled at one end of Flushing Meadows against a man ranked considerably lower and aged considerably older than himself to join compatriot Kyle Edmund in the fourth round, Dan Evans was attempting at the other send of the US Open grounds to make it a trio of Britons in the last 16.
Evans, Murray and Kyle Edmund were already the first British trio of men to make the third round at this tournament since 1968: Now, remarkably, they could tick off another ‘first’. Never in the Open era had even two British men made the fourth round at the US Open. With Murray joining Edmund there this year, Evans was aiming for the hat-trick.
2016 was already proving to be one of the best summers in Evans’ career. But he had to counter a ranking disadvantage of over 60 places against Stan Wawrinka: His effort to do so brought about the match of the tournament so far.
Evans had won three Challenger titles from five finals in what was proving to be one of his best ever seasons. He had victories over Grigor Dimitrov in Washington and Alexandr Dolgopolov at Wimbledon, and here he beat the No27 seed and huge young talent, Sascha Zverev, to reach his second consecutive Major third round.
Not content with that, Evans was having a ball in doubles with Nick Kyrgios, playing the same kind of uninhibited all-court tennis as in singles to reach the third round there, too.
But his task was enormous against fellow one-hander and No3 seed Wawrinka. The popular Swiss with the powerhouse backhand was not just a Major champion in Australia and France but three times a quarter-finalist in New York, going on to the semis in 2013.
And when on form, the Swiss has the beating of anyone: He beat both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal for the Australian title, then Djokovic and Roger Federer for the French.
By the time that Murray was ending his match on Arthur Ashe, however, Evans was already a set up on Armstrong, 6-4.
Now the level of their tennis rose a notch, with both playing aggressively, mixing it up, but with Evans, as is his way, chipping and charging, ghosting into the net, and making some fine winners. Not that he couldn’t live the Wawrinka at the baseline, too, and in some picture-book rallies, they embarked on some fine backhand exchanges. However Wawrinka, give or take a turned ankle that needed taping, took a grip on the set, broke in the eighth game and sealed it, 6-3, with a huge 130mph serve.
They remained neck and neck throughout a third set punctuated by some glorious passes and athletic net finishes. Rightly, after an hour, it would be decided by a tie-break.
Evans took the edge, 4-1, and served to bring up set points at 6-3. Wawrinka levelled with his signature backhand down the line, a crowd-pleaser if ever there was one, only for Evans to follow it with an ace. Wawrinka then clipped the net to take the ball out, and Evans had a two-set lead, 7-6(6).
The battle, though, was far from over. They exchanged breaks at the start of the fourth, and then Evans had the chance of a break in the seventh game. But Wawrinka was fully focused and tactically smart. He sliced at Evans feet and drew the error, and in the blink of an eye, the Briton was into an 11-minute tussle to hold his own serve: Three break points, six deuces, some brave net finishes to make it 4-4.
Again Evans had a glimmer of a chance to break in the 10th game, but his lob missed by a fraction. It would go to another tie-break.
And once more Evans took the edge, 5-3, Wawrinka levelled at 5-5, and suddenly Evans had match-point. The Swiss, though, showed his Grand Slam flair and toughness, volleying a winner and then making a backhand for set point. Twice Evans let Wawrinka off the hook with a misdirected smash—something the Briton would afterwards find particularly hard to handle—and he paid the price. The No3 seed served to take the 77-minute set, 7-6(8).
Evans began to look tired, and his concentration wavered. He saved two break points in the first game of the third, but finally lost it, and was broken again as errors—and his racket—flew about the court.
His mood was not helped by being denied physio treatment—for a foot problem, not cramp, as the physio insisted—but the arguments seemed to distract Wawrinka too, who double faulted, and handed a break back. But it was too little too late, and the Swiss served it out, 6-2, after more than four hours on court.
Wawrinka was afterwards clearly relieved to have made it through, and hugely complimentary of Evan’s tennis: “It was an unbelievable fight tonight, saving match point. He’s really talented, he was pushing me a lot. I was trying to stay in the match, stay focused, trying to dictate a little bit more because he was coming in a lot to finish the point.
“For me it was more of a mental challenge. Tough conditions, windy, and against such a talented player, it was hard play my best game. To finish like that, I’m very happy.”
Evans revealed that his foot was likely to prevent him from playing his doubles match the next day, and he cut a despondent figure behind the huge press conference desk: “Just a bit of a heart-breaker really. I don’t really know what to say. It was a tough one to take. Probably hurt a bit for a while. I was physically pretty tired. Subconsciously, mentally as well I was hurt a bit… He’s obviously a class opponent. I sort of knew that was the chance in the fourth set… It’s just a difficult one to take.”
Next up for Wawrinka is either Illya Marchenko or Nick Kyrgios, who would be the last match on Arthur Ashe. But the US Open had already seen its best match of the day, probably of the weekend, possibly of the week. One can only feel sympathy that Evans was on the losing end of it, but there was no disgrace in that, and every reason to expect bigger and better results from Britain’s No2 very soon.