ATP Tour

Evans earns emotional win in Eastbourne

Daniel Evans continued his return to form by upsetting second seed Tommy Paul 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday at the Lexus Eastbourne Open, where the 35-year-old is into his first ATP Tour quarter-final since 2023.

Evans, World No. 170 in the PIF ATP Rankings, defeated Frances Tiafoe last week at Queen’s Club, and has only continued to build his confidence on home soil. He will next face another American, lucky loser Jenson Brooksby, in what will be their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash.

“I know I’ve done the work and I’ve got the confidence,” an emotional Evans said in his on-court interview. “A good friend once said to me, ‘If you’re ready and the door opens, you’ll walk through it’. There’s no truer words [during] the past two weeks.”

Paul, who won his first ATP 500 title at Queen’s Club last year, was playing in his first grass match of the season. The American had been dealing with an abdominal injury since his run to the Roland Garros quarter-finals.

In other action, third seed Jakub Mensik notched an impressive 7-5, 6-3 victory over Reilly Opelka on his Eastbourne debut. The 19-year-old Mensik, who is the second Czech quarter-finalist in tournament history after Radek Stepanek in 2011, hit 12 aces to Opelka’s 10 during the 86-minute contest.

Mensik, who is at a career-high No. 17 in the PIF ATP Rankings, next faces Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who rallied past Australian qualifier James Duckworth 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4. The Spaniard is competing in his first grass-court event of the season after getting married earlier this month and withdrawing from his first-round clash to Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s Club last week.

Watch Highlights from Mensik vs. Opelka in Eastbourne

Fourth seed Ugo Humbert eased past Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 6-4 to reach his seventh ATP Tour quarter-final on the surface. He will next face British lucky loser Billy Harris, who continued his fine form in Eastbourne by moving past Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4.

Harris, who reached his maiden ATP Tour semi-final in Eastbourne last year, now owns a 5-1 tournament record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

Top seed Taylor Fritz and Joao Fonseca split sets before the match was suspended due to darkness.