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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2017

Dan Evans

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

D. EVANS/M. Cilic

3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How do you assess the whole match? A wonderful performance.
DAN EVANS: Yeah, it was good. Slow start really. I was a bit taken aback how hard he hit the ball. So, yeah, had to sort of get in the match and hang in at the start of the second.

Q. Can you tell us what problem you had in your eye.
DAN EVANS: Just a fly went in it. There were flies, a little gnat, whatever it was. I just washed it out.

Q. This is the best win of your career by ranking. Does it also for you generally feel like the best win?
DAN EVANS: Yeah, obviously over five sets, it's a proper win. Last week was three. But against Thiem.

Five sets is the ultimate test, I think. It was really good. I think I played as well as I can play today. I was really pleased with how I played especially towards the end of the match.

Q. You said after the last round you had to neutralize the serve, get yourself in rallies. At what point in the match did you feel you were doing that?
DAN EVANS: Probably the middle of the second. I wouldn't have thought he served that many aces after the second set. I think I put him under pressure with his second serve. I was making a lot of second serve returns.

Yeah, I think I forced him into a few doubles as well. I served really well. That was a big part of it.

Q. What has Mark Hilton done for you? Is it technical and mental?
DAN EVANS: Nothing technically. Just, yeah, more just keeping me on the court each day. The end of last year was obviously pretty, I would say, a test for Hilt. I wasn't the best at the end of last year. He was just urging me to stay focused. That was the best thing for me.

I've known him a long time. He was coached by the guy who looked after the academy I was at. I've known him quite a long time.

We're pretty close. I would say really close. Yeah, I respect what he's got to say. That's a big thing for me, is if he says to me, that's gospel to me. I'll go with it.

Q. What is the position with your kit? It's not all color coordinated.
DAN EVANS: Is it not? Cheers, Mike. I'm not too sure you're coordinated. Geeze.

Q. Some would say.
DAN EVANS: I'm just out of contract with Nike. They didn't offer me another contract. I just went to the store and bought a load of clothes the other day, plain clothes.

Q. Here?
DAN EVANS: Yeah. What was it, Sunday? Sunday or Saturday, yeah.

Q. Which shop was that?
DAN EVANS: It's Uniqlo. 19.99, the shirts are.

Q. What about the shorts?
DAN EVANS: I didn't look. I just picked the shorts up. I was more worried about the shirts.

Q. How many did you buy in terms of shirts?
DAN EVANS: I think about 18 shirts, something like that. I went back this morning to buy some more, so... They're not the best quality. To sweat in and wash them...

Q. Will there be more trips the deeper you go into the tournament?
DAN EVANS: No, I only wore one shirt today. I'm good till Friday. We're good.

Q. When did the Nike deal stop?
DAN EVANS: At the end of the year. Yeah, the end of December.

Q. Did you want to renew?
DAN EVANS: Yeah. I obviously wanted to. I thought they would want to, as well. I guess they've got Kedders. There's no point in having two people wearing Nike in Britain.

Q. Any offers coming in?
DAN EVANS: No. Not at the minute anyway. We'll see. Another win, I might get one.

Q. You said this is as well as you could play. You said you didn't expect to win this one. Don't you think there's another level in you yet?
DAN EVANS: I don't know. I mean, he's obviously 7 in the world. I knew I could win, but there's no point sort of sprouting off that I could win. He was giving me a good hiding at the start. Yeah, just hang in there.

Obviously it got quite cold out there. He struggled to hit through me. Yeah, got the win.

Q. During the dark times, did you ever dream of a match like this or imagine it or visualize it?
DAN EVANS: Yeah, I mean, obviously I played some good matches before that. Then, yeah, there were some tough times after the Wawrinka match.

I still think about that match on the court today. It's not easy when you had the opportunity to sort of close out the big match and then lose.

Yeah, I'm happy it happened. But, you know, hopefully there will be no more dark times, as you put it.

Q. At what point today was that match against Wawrinka coming into the mind?
DAN EVANS: 40-30, last game, last match point. Didn't want to go down the other end, sit down and serve for it. Yeah, I didn't think I did much wrong actually in the two match points. I was pretty pleased when he netted the forehand.

Q. You have potentially Bernard Tomic next round. You have a win over him in a Grand Slam. Will you take memories from that match if that turns out to be the opponent?
DAN EVANS: Yeah, I mean, a completely different match to then. The Davis Cup match we played not long ago. I think it's just sort of afresh when we play each other, if I play him. Yeah, I'd say it's a 50/50 match. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to playing him.

Q. Will there be an incentive for his father snubbing you at training, saying you weren't good enough to hit with his son?
DAN EVANS: I'm not going to bother saying anything about that again. He confronted me about that. We'll leave it at that.

Q. When the match finished, you let out a yell as you came off. Was there something particular then going through your mind? Was it just a relief thing?
DAN EVANS: Yeah, it was a relief obviously. Obviously getting across the line against him. In the five sets, the five sets is a big thing for me to sort of last. Yeah, it was great to win. Just great to win. I mean, I don't know why I did that, though. That happens. It was pretty good for me.

Q. You seemed to be on your phone quite quickly in the moment of glory. Who were you texting?
DAN EVANS: It's just a friend of mine, yeah. Just letting everybody know I was all right, so... I'm not sure if she was watching or not. Other people have to work. She was, so...

Q. You have a friend here.
DAN EVANS: He is a bricklayer in Sydney. He was there last week. He flew down this week. Yeah, I guess stay down, miss a week of work. I'm not sure his girlfriend is that happy, but she'll be all right.

Q. Will he stay until you're out?
DAN EVANS: If he's allowed, I guess. We all know what that's like, so...

Q. During the course of the match, did you believe all the way you were good enough to win that or were there moments of doubt and anxiety? Were you really confident all the way through?
DAN EVANS: No, only towards the end I sort of -- I try not to think about the finishing line too far into the match because you get ahead of yourself. You're thinking about it, then you're not thinking about it. Yeah, started to really think I was going to break him and win the match. Obviously Love-30 was a big point.

Q. Would you say it's one of the biggest wins of your career?
DAN EVANS: Yeah, definitely the biggest win.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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