For a British player to make a Challenger final once in a year is rare. For two to play one in a final is almost unheard of yet that was the situation in Dallas on Sunday. Second seed Kyle Edmund defeated the unpredictable but talented Dan Evans in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
The first set was the tale of which player could take the few break points on offer. Edmund saved the only one he faced and Evans cracked, giving Edmund the crucial advantage from just two break points. Edmund stayed strong behind strong first serve percentage, and yielded just two points on that wing. Evans second serve, which had held strong in matches against Benjamin Becker and Bjorn Fratangelo in particular faltered, as the British number three failed to win even forty percent of those points.
Evans game dropped just a little more in the second set, and it was enough for the higher ranked man to pull away. Edmund again broke, and when Evans failed to quickly retrieve the break despite earning four break points in the set, his body language implied that the game was up. He continued to battle but Edmund continued with the initiative, preying in particular on Evans backhand, and a second break was earned, and with it the match was over.
With the Challenger win Edmund will re-join the Top 100, after he had briefly fallen out after his first round defeat at the Australian Open. Evans will also move up, and despite not winning the title, is close to his career high ranking, and he could reach the goal of the Top 100 if he continues to display the level of form he produced at times this week.
Tournament Summary: Congratulations to Kyle Edmund of course, but arguably the most impressive performances do not belong to the man who won the tournament. Frances Tiafoe’s win over Sam Groth was the shock of the tournament, and though the young American failed to back it up with a deep showing shows that he has an exciting game. Evans despite losing in the final, deserves enormous credit for negotiating a very tough draw that started with a match against Andrey Rublev. Toughing out the three set victory there was followed by excellent wins over Bjorn Fratangelo, Benjamin Becker, and Tatsumo Ito. A tough draw but a great run. It’s also nice to see Marinko Matosevic back winning matches. The Australian had suffered some heavy defeats in recent weeks as he attempts to return from injury, but reaching the quarter-finals shows that the former Top 50 player is returning to some level of match fitness.
