Citi Open: Dan Evans emphatically ends Kyle Edmund's resurgence with straight sets victory in Washington
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Updated 02/08/2022 at 21:35 GMT
Dan Evans proved a class above Kyle Edmund to make it through to the last 16 of the Citi Open, with the 32-year-old taking full advantage of his opponent’s rustiness after a recent lengthy layoff. With Edmund failing to get into any kind of rhythm, Evans was relentless in his pursuit of victory, picking off his opponent time and time again with precision and power.
Evans wins all-Brit affair as he cruises past Edmund in Washington
Daniel Evans made light work of Kyle Edmund 6-1 6-2 to emphatically end his British rival’s resurgence and proceed to the last 16 of the Citi Open in Washington.
Edmund is building his way back to full fitness after three knee surgeries kept him out of the game for 21 months, beating Yosuke Watanuki in straight sets on Monday to set up a round-of-32 clash with Evans.
However, Evans proved a class above the former world no 14, with the 32-year-old taking full advantage of his opponent’s rustiness.
"It's just nice to see him back," Evans said of Edmund in a post-match interview.
"He's nowhere near where he probably wants to be. He's a great player and I'm just really happy to see him back.
"He works super hard, he puts it out there day after day and he's had a frustrating two years."
Evans was in immediate control, breaking Edmund in just the second game of the first match and twice more to rally through the opening set 6-1, with the latter making numerous unforced errors.
Edmund put up more of a fight in the initial stages of the second set, but the errors crept back into his game as his serve was broken in the third game and then again in the fifth.
With Edmund failing to get into any kind of rhythm, Evans was relentless in his pursuit of victory, picking off his opponent time and time again with precision and power, making another break to take it to 5-1.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Evans’ serve was broken just when it looked like the British No 2 was set to sew up the contest. But that was simply delaying the inevitable as Evans immediately broke back to take the match in convincing manner.
DRAPER KNOCKED OUT BY RUBLEV
Meanwhile, Jack Draper’s journey in the competition is over following a 6-4 6-2 loss to top seed Andrey Rublev.
Service was held until the ninth game in the first set when Draper’s resistance was finally broken as Rublev took a 5-4 lead seeing out the set.
Rublev was slowly getting into his groove and after breaking Draper’s serve in the third game of the second set, he put daylight between the players to build a 3-1 advantage as he closed on victory.
Draper continued to put up a brave fight, but Rublev’s quality shone through as he made another break en route a comfortable straight sets victory.
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