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WIMBLEDON

June 30, 2016

Daniel Evans

London, England

D. EVANS/A. Dolgopolov
7‑6, 6‑4, 6‑1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Where does that rank in best matches that you've played?
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, I just haven't ranked them yet. It was a good one, especially in England. A strange one. Yesterday was really difficult to play. I felt good coming in today when it was dry and could actually move pretty well on the court and sort of use my strengths.

Q. Have you ever played better than that? You seemed to be really in top form.
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, it was good. It was a really good performance. Felt like it just sort of just all went into one, flowed pretty well. Served well. Probably won't realize how well I played until I watch it myself. It sort of all just happened pretty quick. Before I knew, it was over.
So, yeah, it was a satisfying, like, few hours on court today.

Q. Your ranking has shot up over the last year. What do you put that down to?
DANIEL EVANS: I've just been working hard. I'm not going to sit here and say I work unbelievably hard, harder than anyone. I don't. I just work hard day in, day out, as hard as I need to work. That's what it's been down to.
Just doing the right stuff on and off the court. It's been tough, but I've sort of used those sacrifices and done it. Other people should look at putting a bit of extra time in, the Brits, and we can all do it. We're doing well here this year.

Q. In the past, people have said you like a night out and stuff. How do you kerb that and what are the sacrifices that you've made?
DANIEL EVANS: I still like a night now. It doesn't change. Just do it at the right time.
Yeah, it's just been, honestly, doing it day in, day out, trying to play as much tennis as possible. That's all I can say really. That's all I've done.
It's not been a special 'this happened, that happened.' It's been a gradual process. It's been probably about a year and a half now. It's been hard.
But, you know, I've enjoyed it. Even in Egypt, I enjoyed playing there. It wasn't pretty, but it's all tennis. Hopefully now I'll reap the rewards.

Q. Have you and Marcus sat down in the last couple days and chatted about events?
DANIEL EVANS: Are you kidding me? Don't get a word out of him. He's a celebrity now. Just looks at his phone. Spoke to him yesterday, it was like speaking to a brick wall. Doesn't speak. Just looks at his phone.

Q. You'll be getting in touch with him to get some advice on Federer?
DANIEL EVANS: No. Lost in three straights. No advice needed (smiling).

Q. How do you prepare for the match against Roger? Do you go in believing you can win it?
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, I mean, he's not a normal guy obviously, but he's another tennis player who I have to prepare myself to just play another match. Against him, it would be stupid to say it's not a special occasion to play him. It will be on a big court.
I just have to prepare myself best and try and put that to the back of my head, that it's Roger I'm playing. Go out and give it my best.

Q. Do you see drawing Federer a reward for all the hard work you've put in?
DANIEL EVANS: There's better rewards (smiling).
It's going to be a great, great experience. Hopefully an even better one than most people think. It's going to be tough. I'm going to go for some probably pain running around tomorrow. But it's going to be enjoyable. I'll enjoy every minute of it, to be honest with you, whatever the score.

Q. You said earlier about being a message to others that nothing replaces hard work. Do you think British tennis is slowly waking up to the fact that unless you put in the hours, it's not going to come good for you?
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, but I'm no one to preach. I wasn't preaching then by any stretch of the imagination. I think this Wimbledon has sort of opened the eyes to people that we're actually pretty good at tennis. I mean, there's been some good performances from the Brits. Obviously Willis we all know about. Me. Alex Ward has done unbelievable, like, last few months. Liam Broady. We're all pretty good tennis players.
I think they should be a bit more appreciated. They just get a wild card into Wimbledon. It's not that. Everyone puts the work in for the year. They're not trying any less hard than me. We're all trying as hard as each other.
I think British tennis is definitely going upwards.

Q. You say you've been working hard the last 18 months. Do you think that's something you weren't ready to do and now everything has come together?
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, for sure. When I was a bit younger, I don't think I was ready to play professional tennis maybe. I would say I wasn't, you know, just ready for that commitment of day in, day out.
It is a grind at times. Now I'm enjoying it. Don't get me wrong. I do sometimes think, God, it's another day. But I'm just trying to, you know, stay positive all the time.
There's been bad times in the last year, as well, where it hasn't all been plain sailing. You just got to keep going.

Q. Was there a light bulb moment for you?
DANIEL EVANS: Not really. No, not really. I let a lot of people down. It was difficult to keep letting those guys down, seeing them disappointed in what I'd been doing. Gradually sort of got the message through. But it took a few knocks at the door.

Q. Did you get to see any of Marcus' match yesterday?
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, I've seen snippets of it. It's amazing really. Still can't believe he actually qualified and won a round (smiling).
No, honestly, I'd be hard pushed to find someone that resents him right now. Everyone is so happy for him. Well, I hope they are. It's amazing what he's done.
Yeah, I mean, hopefully he milks it as much as he can. Should be dining out on it for a while, I would think.

Q. You said you saw snippets of Marcus' match yesterday. During the commentary, John McEnroe said, Who does he think he is? He's a club player, he can't just come here and fit in and expect to be one of us. How unhelpful are comments like that?
DANIEL EVANS: That's a good question, but I'm not going to answer anything about John McEnroe because he's a great of the game. I'm just not going to comment on that.

Q. With respect to Federer, have you ever practiced with him, had a conversation with him?
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, I've practiced with him. I practiced with him when Paul Annacone was coaching him in the US Open when I was playing there. Yeah, I was a little younger. I was a bit star struck, a bit nervous when I hit with him.
I think I play tomorrow. Does anyone know that? Do I play tomorrow?

Q. Probably.
DANIEL EVANS: I think it is tomorrow, yeah, because obviously I played today.
I really look forward to it. It's a good opportunity for me. You never know.

Q. The challengers in places like Korea seem a long way away now?
DANIEL EVANS: They do, yeah. I mean, but they served a purpose for me. I needed to do it. I got what I wanted out of those tournaments.
Yeah, it's just another good decision this year to go there and not play on the clay.

Q. Marcus had some pretty rowdy fans. Can we expect some guys to be coming down from Solihull?
DANIEL EVANS: We're all polite from Solihull (smiling).
No, I probably won't even fill my allocation, to be honest. The same people who have been here all week.
It's not a day out for me, to be honest with you. It's a chance. It's a good opportunity. It's not a Lord Mayor's show, whatever. It's a good chance tomorrow. I'm taking it seriously.

Q. You've always been somebody who takes a bit of care about your on‑court clothing. You won't be wearing a shirt with RF on the sleeve like Marcus, will you?
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, no. It was interesting. I'm surprised the All England let him wear it, because it was slightly off‑white. Don't know how long he's had it. I've shared a room with him. It might not have even been clean (laughter).
No, I won't be. I'll be wearing a different top to Willis, won't have an RF. Nor will it have DE on it.

Q. How important was the extended grass court season for you?
DANIEL EVANS: It's great. Yeah, it's great. The All England put those tournaments on with the LTA. It's a great opportunity for the Brits, although I didn't take any of those opportunities, I didn't win many of those matches there.
Definitely does help getting practice. Seems like we've been on the grass ages now. First one was Manchester five weeks ago, six weeks ago. It's been helpful, really helpful. Next year they've been upgraded to 100,000s. Brits are thankful for that to the Club and the LTA.

Q. How important has Leon been to your progress?
DANIEL EVANS: He's always there, to be honest. He's been really helpful even before that. He's always shown good strength of character to back me when a lot of people would have thrown me away or whatever else.
No, he's great. I owe a lot of the sort of success to him as well as Mark Taylor and Mark Hilton, fitness coach. He has been helpful. He has stood by me in some tough moments. There's been difficult conversations. But he's pretty easy to talk to. He's good at that. That's part of his job. He helps all of us. A lot of the guys really do get on with him.

Q. It's your first third round at a slam since the US Open. Any parallels? Can you learn any lessons from that?
DANIEL EVANS: No, I mean, I can't really remember the US Open. It was a long time ago. Yeah, I had some chances in that match. But tomorrow I'll just go out and stay close with him, hopefully stay on serve for a bit, see what opportunities come along.
I know I might not get any opportunities. I could get drummed tomorrow. I'm thinking of all the possibilities. Let's see what happens.

Q. Back on the 2013 US Open. If you would have beaten Robredo third round, you would have played Federer. Since then, did you ever feel that was a missed opportunity?
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, I mean, definitely. I thought about it for a while after it happened. Robredo was cramping in the fourth set and I had set point.
Yeah, I genuinely probably didn't think I'd ever get a chance to play him. Especially I wasn't that confident playing Dolgopolov. It's a tough match, you know. He is there in the next round if I beat Dolgopolov. But it's a big 'if'.
It's a nice thing to happen after I beat Dolgopolov. It's another match, like I said. I'm not going to go out there to be just another guy he rolls. I'm going to put up a good fight hopefully.

Q. If you take John McEnroe out of the earlier question, hopefully it's a still good question. Is there an elitism in the game from the governors of the game towards yourself coming from such high rankings?
DANIEL EVANS: I wouldn't have thought so. I'm not from an elitist background. My dad is an electrician, my mum is a nurse. Tennis, people come from a good background. It's that sort of sport. You don't just need a ball to play tennis. You do need a bit of money to start playing tennis. That's why now the LTA is giving away something like 10,000 or something for lessons for people.
They're not not trying. I just think it's tough for people to play tennis. It's not an easy sport. Kicking a ball is a lot easier than hitting a tennis ball. We all know that. It's just one of those things.
I've never, never seen elitism in tennis in the LTA to anyone I've been involved with. No one's ever turned their nose up at me or anything like that. I've never seen it with any of the other players.
There's a lot of players, Alex Ward, normal guy from North Hampton. Dad is a tennis coach. He's a wild card here. Brydan Klein, brought up differently, from Australia. They could easily say, you're British now, you've been Australian, you're not getting a wild card.
A lot of the coaches in the LTA, to be honest, are not from a higher standard background, you know. Leon Smith is from Glasgow. Dad was in a band. Nothing like that. I've never seen that before, so...

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