The continuous rehabilitation of Daniel Evans, Alcaraz’s rival

“I don’t have any choice,” he said with a smile. daniel evansEnglish humor, knowing the difficulty of the challenge, when asked about his chances of winning Carlos Alcaraz.

“He is a fantastic player, it will be a very difficult match. He is very aggressive, plays a lot of winners. I hope to have fun today and see what I can do to make him difficult. If I play my way, I have a chance to win, but even so he can still win. This is the favorite, we are playing Spain and he has the pressure”, said Evans, certainly the tennis player who uses the cut backhand with more diligence and standards in the ATP circuit.

Surrounded by ‘bombers’, the British, 32 years old and world number 26, has a different style of play, more subtle, he doesn’t have a specific shot, but has an uncomfortable game and often goes up to the net entangling many rivals , yesterday in the quarterfinals Francisco Cerundolo: 2-6, 7-5 and 6-3 in 2h.10′ of play.

“It was a good fight, I’m happy to get some wins in a row in a great tournament. I had a difficult start to the year, but now I feel good, I have played well on clay these past two seasons”, said Evans, especially remembering his victory against Novak Djokovic road to the semifinals Masters 1,000 of Monte Carlo’2021.

“Alcaraz connects great punches and it’s very difficult to get the ball back to him,” insisted Daniel in his second meeting with the Murcian, who beat him in Vienna’2021 by 6-4 and 6-3. “I’m going to try to find a way to control the match, not to have too many exchanges, I’m going to go to the net and play my way,” said Evans, long established in the world’s top 30 tennis players, but in now can’t break the top 20 barrier. What is missing for it?

“I have to keep winning games, not losing the close games I’ve played in the last five years. I need to be more consistent every week to get into the top-20. I am working hard to achieve it”, replied the British.

Evans is in full sporting maturity after rebuilding his career once he served a one-year ban for a positive cocaine test in 2017, certain to Barcelona. The Englishman became the champion of Davis cup in 2015 and he was in full development, hence his regret for that mistake that forced him to descend into hell and return to earth starting again from the beginning.

“I learned a lot about myself during that time away from tennis, a sport I love. I realized how stupid I was, but I learned not to look back. During the suspension I couldn’t accept it, I hated myself. I couldn’t control my emotions. The psychologist told me he was the most angry person he had ever seen and reflected on me,” explained the Englishman after his punishment.

“I made a big mistake and I know things won’t be easy when I come back, but I also know that I have a future in tennis. Many people I considered friends turned their backs on me, tournaments I was denied invitations to. It was very difficult and frustrating, but I didn’t let it get to me again. I had a new opportunity,” Evans recalled. He took advantage of it and this Saturday he faces a full Carlos Alcaraz.