“I don’t know if that’s ever happened before” - Evans
Betting sites understandably had Evans as an underdog coming into the match, with bookmaker Bet365 putting him at $3.60 to pull off an unlikely win.
The victory was just his second in 12 matches, and only his fifth of the year thanks to injury issues pushing Evans outside of the top 200.
The Brit revealed afterwards just how surreal it felt to have the crowd rally behind him and cheer him on in the fifth set.
“It was amazing at 4-2 it really started to get going,” Evans said. “They sort of sensed it.
“I don’t know how many British people there are here, but it seemed as though the whole place wanted me to win. I don’t know if that’s ever happened before!”
He also shared a little bit about his mindset when coming back from a deficit to win on Tuesday.
“I haven’t played a bunch of tennis this year. I just tried to keep fighting.
“At four love, I thought I was out of it. I felt a little sorry for myself, and just tried to get myself going. I didn’t want to go out of another slam with not much fight and a whimper.
“I don’t even know how long the match was.
“I could see he was struggling a bit. I tried to just grab a game at a time.”
Evans will now play Mariano Navone in the second round, and currently leads the online betting at $1.53 to win.
Upsets abound across opening two days of US Open
As is often the case at Grand Slams, plenty of big seeds fell early in New York.
In the men’s draw, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune and Felix Auger-Aliassime all suffered first-round losses. Each were in the top 10 lines of most betting agencies, but took tough losses, with Tsitsipas falling to Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis, Rune going down to Brandon Nakashima and Auger-Aliassime losing to Jakub Mensik.
Several seeded women also fell in the first round at Flushing Meadows. Jelena Ostapenko had a tough draw with former US Open champion Naomi Osaka up first, which proved a bridge too far for the No 10 seed. Osaka powered past her in just over an hour, winning 6-3, 6-2.
American Danielle Collins also lost in what will be her final US Open, crashing out at the hands of compatriot Caroline Dolehide in a tight three-setter. Maria Sakkari joined her in the list of upsets as well, with the Greek yet again falling early in a Grand Slam. This time it was Yafan Wang who sent her home, winning 6-2 (ret).
Big names advance unscathed
Despite the multitude of first-round upsets, the favourites to win in both the men’s and women’s draws advanced with little issue on Monday and Tuesday.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz both dropped set but were largely in control of their opening matches, while Djokovic breezed through in straight sets.
Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev also went to four, but advanced comfortably to the second round.
For the women, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff all ensured they keep their title hopes alive in New York.
