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MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERS

April 17, 2017

Dan Evans

Monte Carlo, Monaco

K. EDMUND/D. Evans

7-5, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Give us your verdict on that match.
DAN EVANS: He was just better than me. Yeah, pretty much it.

Q. Did you learn much more about clay now?
DAN EVANS: Not really. It's just difficult, isn't it? My game style doesn't match up that well on this surface. Thought I played pretty good actually in the first set.

As soon as he found his forehand, it was pretty much over.

Q. You were lobbing him quite a lot. Was that a worked-out strategy beforehand?
DAN EVANS: No. Just obviously couldn't smash for some reason (smiling).

Q. You've obviously been around a bit now. How does his forehand compare to the forehands that you've faced?
DAN EVANS: It's up there. I've not been around as long as you, so you might know a bit better.

Q. You're on the receiving end.
DAN EVANS: It's pretty big. It's tough, you do a lot of running. If he gets on it, yeah, it's good.

Q. How much does playing on clay benefit you later on, if you play week in, week out?
DAN EVANS: It doesn't, in my eyes, yeah. It's just an exercise - a pointless one at that.

Q. A lot of people would say it strengthens you, fitness-wise it's good.
DAN EVANS: I just don't like it. It's just tough for me to play on it, so...

Q. Do you find it difficult getting into a positive frame of mind before matches?
DAN EVANS: No. I was positive to go on the court. I'm fine before and after. It's just tough on the court. Start the point, I'm basically rolling the ball into the service box to start the point. I'm never on top. So it's not much fun.

Q. Thought about the French Open?
DAN EVANS: Just obviously go there and see what happens. I mean, not everyone loves the clay either. There's other matchups which are winnable. But, yeah, Kyle Edmund is not one of them, as we saw.

Q. What will you do now? Will you go back home? Keep on training?
DAN EVANS: If you stop asking questions, yeah, I'll be able to get the 5:40 (laughter).

No, yeah, well, I'm going home, yeah, so...

Q. Barcelona next?
DAN EVANS: Yeah, I'm playing Barcelona and then Madrid, Rome, yeah.

Q. A word on Kyle. He's playing Rafa next. With that big forehand, do you think he's the sort of guy that could give anyone trouble on clay?
DAN EVANS: I think Rafa's face a few bigger than that, so...

I don't know. It's pretty strange someone from Britain being so good on the clay. There's going to come a point where Kedders does beat some of these real good guys on clay, there's no doubt about that.

Q. Obviously you want to win the match today. Did you fancy a shot against Rafa?
DAN EVANS: Obviously, it would be great to play him. Would have been struggling for some games, I know that, so... Save myself some embarrassment, I guess. That's about it.

Q. If your ranking wasn't so high that you have to play these Masters, would you skip them?
DAN EVANS: No, I mean, if I wasn't in the draw, I would obviously play somewhere else, yeah. But it's good. I mean, it's not that I'm not enjoying it. It's good. You know, I'm still having fun and stuff. It's just I'm not sure how much I'm going to win on it, so we'll see.

Q. What is the dynamic like, Dan? You've obviously done it a lot over the years, playing other Brits. Some people find it quite difficult.
DAN EVANS: I mean, I thought Ked was a bit slow at the start. I thought he was a bit nervous. But I think I played way more Brits than Kyle.

But, yeah, once he got going, yeah, it was pretty plain sailing. I mean, he's not the same sort of age as me. I'm friends with him. He's not like a good friend or anything like that.

It wasn't so hard. But obviously it's not nice playing another Brit because obviously you want them to win, and I guess hopefully they want me to win, so...

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