From bad boy to beacon of hope, it has been a remarkable 14 months for Daniel Evans which culminate in a couple of weeks with a Davis Cup singles debut for Great Britain endorsed by no less than Andy Murray.
As Murray eased into the preparations for his second round at the US Open against Paul Capdeville, a Chilean who may needle the British No 1 but is unlikely to have anything in terms of shots to beat him, thoughts here turned to an event on the schedule of more widespread concern.
For, unless Great Britain defeat Poland in a Europe/Africa Group I play-off in Liverpool from September 18, our international credibility is truly in tatters.
Murray has said that he will play and he wants Evans, the 19-year-old from Birmingham, to play as well. When he was torn off a strip, denied financial support and wild cards and generally sent to Coventry by the LTA for staying out late before a boys’ doubles match at the 2008 Wimbledon championships, Evans cannot have expected redemption to come so quickly. He is now the “Next Big Thing”, even if he is only 5ft 10in.
Although he lost both tie-breaks to love in the first round of qualifying for the US Open a week ago, playing incredibly loose tennis when he needed to be tight, Evans has been forgiven. He will be forgiven a lot more if he can plunder a point as the No 2 singles player against the Poles, standing up to players of greater stature and ranking than his present status of No 309 in the world.
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Murray may be way out of Evans’s sphere but he has seen and heard enough to be pleased to welcome him into the cup fold. “I want him to play second singles, we need to start looking to the future,” Murray said yesterday. “He is a good player and talented. He needs to grow up mentally, which I needed to do at his age, but the Davis Cup is the perfect way of doing that.”
There was something about the way Murray looked, moved and played in his opening-round 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Ernests Gulbis, of Latvia, on Tuesday night that made one believe he is in the right place at the right time. The disappearance of Ivo Karlovic and Stanislas Wawrinka from his section of the draw has only added to the sense of expectancy.
Rafael Nadal’s return to grand-slam tennis yesterday was all that he would have wished. Looking slim and full of intent, the man who has lost his French and Wimbledon titles and the No 1 ranking in the period of four months while he recovered from tendinitis in his knees defeated Richard Gasquet, of France, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
It is beginning to look as if Kim Clijsters has never been away. The Belgian, champion here in 2005 and restored to the circuit after starting a family, recovered from a hesitant start to defeat Marion Bartoli, the No 14 seed from France, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 and reach the third round. One more win for each of them and Clijsters will face Venus Williams.