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APIA INTERNATIONAL SYDNEY

January 12, 2017

Daniel Evans

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

D. EVANS/D. Thiem

3-6, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Well done. How does that rank among your best wins?
DANIEL EVANS: No, yeah, it's probably my best. It was a good match. Fought really hard to try and get the win and come out on top.

Q. You said out there on court -- I didn't hear the whole thing, but you said that the first set went pretty much as you expected.
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah.

Q. But you kind of sort of played aggressive the second set. Do you think that was what turned it around?
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, I tried to come forward a bit more in the second set, so I played the first set sort of on his terms.

And then, yeah, didn't have much to lose. Just hung in there and come forward. Yeah, it was good.

Q. In the second set, the level of tennis seemed really amazing. In terms of going toe to toe with a top-10 player like that, it didn't look like he was playing badly. You were both playing great. Where does that look like you sit, I suppose, in the rankings?
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, just where I am, I guess. Yeah, it was good tennis the second set. I think the first set was pretty good, as well.

The whole level of the match, I thought, was decent. Yeah, I mean, like I said, I was just trying to, honestly, just point by point and keep going and hang in there.

I mean, I felt like I was always sort of on the back foot, as well. He was hitting it pretty hard, so I had to, you know, stay sort of concentrated and get the win.

Q. He was misfiring quite a bit. Did that give you hope to hang in there? Did that give you sort of...
DANIEL EVANS: Yeah, in the end I thought he didn't really know how to get it by me. I thought I sort of put my game on to him pretty well.

And then, you know, that's when I sort of started to get on top was towards the end of the third set.

Q. What does it mean to you to get to the semifinal?
DANIEL EVANS: No, it's great. It's great for next week, as well. You know, I played Hopman Cup last week, so I didn't pick up any points, obviously, there.

It's great start for my year. I need -- you know, I have a lot of points coming off the start of this year, so it's a great help. You know, it can only be good for next week.

Q. Had you ever beaten a top-10 player before?
DANIEL EVANS: No, that was my first. Tonight was my first.

Q. Was that a big goal for you?
DANIEL EVANS: Not really. It was just another match. You know, I knew it was going to be a tough match.

It's difficult to go into the matches thinking, sort of put him on a pedestal. So I just carried on, you know, balls round and all that, one against one.

Q. Everyone has a belief in their own game. Has that changed now that you have had this kind of success?
DANIEL EVANS: No, sort of -- you know, I believed I could win going out onto the court. It wasn't the case I was scared in the first set. He just played better.

You know, I wasn't too -- I wasn't panicked after the first set. I just had to come out in the second set, you know, try and get on top of it. That's what I did.

Q. You have Kuznetsov next. What do you think about that matchup?
DANIEL EVANS: I think it's a good matchup for both. I mean, if they'd sort of said we'd be in the semis, I'm sure he'd take that and I'd take him sort of thing. (Laughter.)

So, yeah, I think it's good for me. Yeah, it's going to be a good match. I actually lost to him last time. We'll see what happens.

Q. What would you say has been behind some of the things behind your rise the last 12 to 18 months? You had a great US Open against Stan. What's clicking?
DANIEL EVANS: Just practicing a lot. You know, doing a lot of fitness just day in, day out, sort of trying to not miss any days sort of thing.

You know, little and often sort of thing. I think that's what I'd put it down to.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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