Defeated Evans on Djokovic: “He’s a Wimbledon contender”
Novak Djokovic beat Dan Evans 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 on Centre Court
Novak Djokovic and Dan Evans (Action Plus/PSNewz)
Dan Evans says that Novak Djokovic – who beat him in straight sets to reach the Wimbledon third round for the 19th time – is a contender to win the title and seal his record-breaking 25th Grand Slam.
“I thought he played very well. Didn’t give me much chance to get into the match,” he said in his post-match press conference.
“The bottom line is it’s pretty obvious why he’s as good as he is on that court. He played good tennis and showed everybody on Centre Court why he’s a contender.”
He elaborated: “I felt like I was always on the back foot. You guys have wrote enough about how good he is. We’re all singing off the same hymn sheet. Yeah, just so good coming forwards when he hits a deep ball. He’s aware when you’re on your back foot, and he’ll move you.
“I think the big thing is he serves like a big server, but he’s maybe 6’1”. Today he served spots. I don’t think he got over 130, but every serve was a spot. Then you’ve got his return game, which really sticks you under some pressure.
“I’d say, if I had to sum it up, it felt the tennis balls were back in my pocket very quickly and never stayed in there a long time.”
A proud happiness
Evans hinted before the tournament that it might be his last Wimbledon, and reiterated that when he said he had enjoyed the occasion despite the result.
“I appreciate the chance to play on Centre Court again. Bottom line is I may never get
another chance. Yeah, I thought about that on the court. When you’re 35, you’ve got more perspective than when you’re 21. As I said before, I wanted to win the match. I believed I could win the match. I felt confident going into the match.
“It’s just such a hard task at hand, and that’s it. I’m not going to say I enjoyed it or didn’t enjoy it. I understand the occasion and what a moment it was for myself to go out there and experience everything today.
“Of course, it’s disappointing, but I’ll look back with a proud happiness. Yeah, it was a hell of an occasion. Of course, I wanted to win the match. It’s just very difficult to do that. Yeah, the last probably four or five games, I really soaked it up, and I did enjoy it, yeah.”
