British tennis player Daniel Evans took less than an hour to dispatch of the qualifier from Taiwan Jason Jung in Atlanta yesterday. While Jung is not exactly a world class tennis player, he did win his previous two matches in straight sets and had pushed Evans further at Indian Wells earlier this year losing 6-4, 6-4 to the Brit.
Source - Getty Images - Daniel Evans
This time around Evans put on a dominant display beating Jung 6-1, 6-1 and setting the stage for what could be a run to the final in an attempt to win his first ever ATP Title. Yesterday I wrote that Evans was my outside bet at winning the title in Atlanta at 13.00. That was an excellent start for him and will give him bags of confidence going into day 2 in the US where he will face the player who robbed him of his first ATP title earlier this year at Delray Beach - Radu Albot, it will be the perfect opportunity for revenge!
Although Evans since that final exacted revenge on Radu Albot on grass earlier this month at Eastbourne this will be far more of a familiar scene for Evans in terms of the circumstance he lost before to Albot. That defeat was at a hard court tournament in the US where many felt it was his to loose. I am pretty sure the Birmingham born grafter will be well aware of the situation here and will be determined not to bow out to Moldovian again.
Evans is favourite to win this match, should he put on another comfortable display his odds for winning the tournament will be slashed even further. I suspect they will have already gone down from the 13.00 original tip I gave yesterday given his 6-1, 6-1 win yesterday.
It's a make or break few days for Evans because if like many assume he beats Albot he will be faced with the daunting prospect of having to break down one of two towering American. Either John Isner (6ft 10) or Reilly Opelka (6ft 11) who are both huge servers given their height and leverage. Evans who overcame Isner at Delray Beach in the Semi Final has the tenacity to take on the big guys but it still can be a bit of a lottery because if either of them are serving well on the day, it can feel impossible for anything but a bunch of tie breaks to ensue.
I'll leave you with Evan's Victory over Isner at Delray Beach Earlier this Year. Is Dan destined to make it two in two vs Isner?
