Great Britain will have a winner in the Dallas Challenger. Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund have carved through the draw, to ensure that one hundred and sixty-five ATP ranking points with one hundred for the winner and sixty-five for the runner-up.
Kyle Edmund joined Dan Evans in the final by beating defending champion Tim Smyczek 7-5, 6-3. In the two players first ever career meeting Edmund produced his best serving display of the tournament, as he failed to offer Smyczek even a single break point across the straight sets victory. Edmund broke at six-five in the first set after both men had seemed fairly composed. Smyczek, who had endured two consecutive three-setters against Ryan Harrison and Marinko Matosevic respectively, fell behind in the second set, and Edmund broke for the comfortable win.
Edmund may not have dropped a set on the way to the final, but arguably Evans has had much the tougher draw. Evans had to negotiate young Russian prodigy Andrey Rublev in the first round in three sets, but then convincingly beat seventh seed Bjorn Fratangelo and third seed Benjamin Becker in straight sets, before edging sixth seed Tatsumo Ito in three sets.
Edmund’s wins over Sekou Bangoura, James McGee, Grega Zemlja, and last night’s win over Smyczek by comparison were more straightforward, but it could be argued that his draw was far more favourable, with his only seeded match-up the win over Smyczek in the semi-finals.
These two, despite never having met before in an official capacity, will likely be very familiar with each others games, having practised together often in Davis Cup. Edmund is more consistent, but Evans probably has the better level but fails to display it consistently. Given that he has played well throughout this tournament, I’m expecting Evans bubble to burst in the final and see Edmund regain a Top 100 ranking by taking the Dallas Challenger.
Predicted winner: Kyle Edmund in three sets.
