Since then, it’s been slim pickings.
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The first set was a bit of a slow burner, with Wawrinka making a number of uncharacteristic errors and losing his serve in the ninth game which ultimately cost him the set.
But 31-year-old Wawrinka, who has survived several of these long matches in his career, saved match point in the fourth-set tie-break and stuck it out to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (8), 6-2.
For much of the four hours and two minutes of their match on a packed Louis Armstrong court, the 26-year-old Birmingham rebel out-hit and, until the exhausted ending, out-thought his illustrious Swiss opponent.
The dainty slice backhand rarely looked like missing, while Evans’ defence and athleticism from the back of the court was reminiscent of a certain Andy Murray- whose presence appears to be rubbing off on some of his compatriots. The Australian, who won the True Thailand Classic in March and represented his country at the Rio Olympics, started the day a shot off the pace but picked up four birdies on the front nine and two more after the turn before a bogey at the last left him on 13 under. The No3 seed served to take the 77-minute set, 7-6 (8). And he could not bear it.
Lorenzi said: “I think you need time”.
The Britain had a match point in the fourth set, but Wawrinka rallied to take the match in five sets.
World No 64 Evans described his loss as a “heartbreaker” after coming so close to reaching the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time. He served with power and accuracy and he approached the net like a panther on the hunt.
Dan Evans, playing third seed Stan Wawrinka on Louis Armstrong Stadium, is bidding to become the fourth British player to make the fourth round. He was seconds away from victory and then Wawrinka snatched it away from him.
Tensions rose again at 5-4, as Evans spurned three set points, and Zverev raged after claiming to hear a line judge call a ball out. But he didn’t. He sent it back to the Swiss and and moments later Wawrinka had levelled the score at two sets apiece. I hit it down the middle. “It’s just not easy, is it?” I’ve had a lot of pressure before, but I just stayed in the match.
After almost two months on the road in search of ranking points, Evans is exhausted both mentally and physically. The signs of a potentially regular Top 50 player was clear to see as Evans laid it all on the line under the lights in NY. “Things have just sort of come to a head tonight if I’m being deadly honest”.
Murray, meanwhile, will take on Paolo Lorenzi, who is enjoying the best run of his career. He is impressed but not surprised. And, yeah, I mean, I always like my chances when I get to stages like that in a tournament, especially having to play, like, tough matches early on and feeling good and confident. “That’s why they are where they are”. He’s very unsafe. His backhand is so good.
“Kyle has huge weapons on the court and Jo doesn’t have many weaknesses”.
“For Dan it took him until he was 25 years old to say, “I want to do this”. In the shoot-out, a suitably exciting climax to a great match, Evans crossed at 4-2, three points from a potentially life-changing score.
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And that is a phrase that no one has used for generations.
