Evans completes surprising run in Washington, DC with title by beating Griekspoor

From completely out of nowhere, Dan Evans is the champion in Washington, DC.

Evans secured the biggest title of his career when he defeated Tallon Griekspoor 7-5, 6-3 in the Citi Open final on Sunday evening. The Brit saved all four of the break points he faced to triumph after one hour and 40 minutes of play.

Rain delay can’t stop Evans’ momentum

After Evans took the opening set, a rain delay at 1-1 in the second halted play for three hours. However, it did nothing to prevent Evans from surging to the title. Both players held their first few service games following the hiatus before the critical moment came with Griekspoor serving at 3-4. That is when the Dutchman was broken at love, which included a double-fault at 0-40.

Evans ran into brief trouble at 0-30 while serving for the championship at 5-3, but he fought off four break points and ended up holding to clinch victory.

Evans turns around season in flash with Washington, DC title

To say that Evans is an unexpected champion would be a gross understatement. The 33-year-old had an 8-18 record this season prior to arriving in the United States capital and he was 1-8 in his last nine matches. During that nine-match stretch, his only win came against world No 280 James McCabe.

This week, though, Evans defeated a whole host of quality opponents. Prior to the final he ousted Frenchman Gregoire Barrere (2-6, 6-0, 6-3), Russian Alexander Shevchenko (6-4, 6-3), second-seeded American Frances Tiafoe (6-4, 7-5) and fifth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (6-3, 7-6(4)).

“It was really only the grass I didn’t play well,” Evans noted. “You know, I played well in Barcelona on the clay and then I had some rough matches which I didn’t get the best out of. I lost in three a few times or tight matches. Then I was playing well and I just couldn’t get over the line.

“That’s where you sort of lean on your team keep you working hard and training and practicing hard.”

It was still a great week for Griekspoor, who reached the final by beating British lefty Liam Broady (6-4, 6-2), French wild card Gael Monfils (6-4, 1-6, 6-3), 16th-seeded American J.J. Wolf (7-5, 6-4) and top-seeded American Taylor Fritz (3-6, 6-3, 6-2).

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