By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday June 25, 2025
Dan Evans said at Roland-Garros that one of his big goals for the season was to work his way back inside the Top 100 so he can be a part of the Grand Slams.
He won’t need that ranking next week at Wimbledon, where he’s been granted a wild card, but Evans took a step in that direction nevertheless on Wednesday at Eastbourne with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over American Tommy Paul.
Afterwards the 35-year-old British, a former World No.21 now ranked 170, celebrated emphatically as he took his place in the quarterfinals alongside American Jenson Brooksby.
Evans reached his first quarterfinal since 2023 with a convincing performance over the World No.13 in two hours and 13 minutes. He squandered a break advantage in the third set but quickly regained it back, then served out the match with four consecutive points from 0-15 down in the final game.
“To be honest, I felt good serving for the match,” Evans said after becoming the fifth oldest quarterfinalist in tournament history. “It was more one-love in the second where I started thinking about the finish line, which is an error.
What it means! 🥹An emotional Dan Evans after he defeated Tommy Paul en route to the #LexusEastbourneOpen quarter-finals pic.twitter.com/DzU539g6lo
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 25, 2025
“I just said to myself: ‘enjoy this, this is what it’s about. I played much better tennis when I stopped worrying about what he was doing.”
Evans was close to tears as he addressed the crowd after his victory. He is already up to 154 in the live rankings with today’s win, and would get close to 140 with a win over Brooksby on Thursday.
“I know I’ve done the work as well, he said. “Once I got some confidence, and I knew the work was in the bank.
“A good friend said: ‘if you are ready and the door opens, you’ll walk through it, and if you’re not, you won’t.’ There’s been no truer words for me in the past few weeks.”
