World number one Novak Djokovic during the match with Dan Evans in Monte Carlo.
Eric Gaillard, Reuters
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The 33-year-old Djokovic, who presented himself in Monte Carlo for the first time since his triumph and injury at the February Australian Open, did not enter the match well. Evans took the lead 3-0 and won the first set in 57 minutes.
In the second set, on the other hand, Djokovic took the lead 3-0, but 30-year-old Evans turned the score around and ended this year’s invincibility of the winner of 18 grand slams. For the 33rd player in the rankings, it was the first win over the world number one in his career and only the fourth over a player from the elite ten.
Grave silence on the press conference? The tennis player was really surprised
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“The most important thing is to believe that you can win. But it’s easy to talk about, then you have to show it,” Evans said. “Of course I doubted during the match. It’s not easy to finish the match either, there are a lot of things running through your head,” he added.
“I am very happy and I will probably appreciate the victory from a distance. When I tell the children and grandchildren that I beat the world number one,” added Evans, who is waiting for the eleventh seed David Goffin from Belgium in the quarterfinals.
Nadal, who would like to improve his own record in Monte Carlo and win the 12th title, advanced to the quarterfinals of this tournament for the sixteenth time in a row. In a duel with Dimitrov, he never once got into a tight spot and improved the balance of mutual matches to 14: 1. The Bulgarian tennis player collected 32 unforced errors during the match and did not make a single breakball.
| Monte Carlo Men’s Tennis Tournament (clay, € 2,460,585): |
| Singles – Round 3: |
| Evans (Brit.) – Djokovic (1-SRB) 6: 4, 7: 5 |
| Tsitsipas (4-Czech) – Garín (16-Chile) 6: 3, 6: 4 |
| Goffin (11-BELG) – A. Zverev (5-DEU) 6: 4, 7: 6 (9: 7) |
| Davidovich (Sp.) – Pouille (Fr.) 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 2) |
| Charleston Women’s Tennis Tournament (Clay Green, $ 235,238 grant): |
| Singles – Round 2: |
| Tauson (DEN) – Tomljanovic (6-Austr.) 6: 1, 6: 4 |
| Hibin (JPN) – Di Lorenz (USA) 6: 4, 6: 3 |
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