Dan Evans said he is ‘hurting all over’ after fighting back from a 0-4 deficit in the fifth set to win the longest match to ever take place at the US Open.
The world No.184 looked at times to be down and out before battling to a marathon 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4, win over Karen Khachanov. Evans closed out the match by winning six games in a row to seal victory after a gut-busting five hours and 35 minutes of play. A total of 392 points was played in the match with the Brit withstanding 73 winners produced by his opponent.
Evans’ rollercoaster tussle with Khachanov has broken the previous longest match record by nine minutes. That was held by Stefan Edberg who beat Michael Chang in five hours and 26 minutes in 1992.
The victory for the 34-year-old occurs during a season where he has been affected by injury and mixed results on the Tour. He also decided to prioritize the Olympics to play alongside Andy Murray in what was his last tournament. As a result, Evans ended up losing a series of ranking points.
“I think when you’re a kid, you’re just told to fight until the end,” Evans told reporters. “That’s sort of rule one. I’ve done that pretty consistently for my career. It sort of paid off a bit today.
“I’m immensely proud that I came through the match. I think that’s the overriding feeling more than anything. I’ve had a lot of first rounds this year. It’s nice to win a match.
“Of course, it’s a special match to win in what fashion, or however you want to say. But I’m proud that I’m still able to compete.
“It’s the longest I’ve ever been on a court. In the fourth set, I had to check the set to see what set we was in. I wasn’t entirely sure what set we were in.
“But I don’t really want to do that again. That’s for sure.”
Unsurprisingly, Evans won’t be hitting the practice courts on Wednesday so he can focus on his recovery. In the second round, he faces Argentina’s Mariano Navone who beat Daniel Altmaier in just over two-and-a-half hours.
“Obviously, I won’t practice,” he said. “Just recover and try and recover as best as possible. I was hurting all over really.
“I don’t think I’ve played five hours, that long, in a day ever in two sessions, never mind in one day. I was actually thinking that on the court. I’ve never practiced [for] two hours. It’s normally an hour and a half.”
Evans is bidding to reach the last 32 in New York for the fourth year in a row.
