Britain ‘ s exhausted Dan Evans finally ran out of steam as he exited the US Open in a four – set defeat to Alex de Minaur . The 34 – year – old leaves New York with a piece of history , having won the longest – ever match at the tournament with his five – hour – 33 – minute first – round victory over Karen Khachanov . But he paid the price for that physical exertion earlier in the week as he fatigued badly in a 6 – 3 6 – 7 ( 4 ) 6 – 0 6 – 0 loss to the Australian 10th seed . De Minaur was in an impish mood , chasing down lost causes and extending rallies . That did little to help Evans ‘ cause and the British player did not have the firepower or the physical longevity to survive . He competed for the first two sets , showing grit to level at one set all , but it proved too much . Still , he exits the tournament with his pride intact and a place in the record books . He also began repairing his dwindling ranking , which plummeted after he chose not to defend 500 points in Washington earlier in the summer in
order to feature in the Olympics . The first set – and perhaps the match – hinged on an eight – minute game at 3 – 2 . After a 27 – shot rally , which Evans lost , he regrouped to force break point but could not convert , with the Australian living up to his ” Demon ” nickname to hold serve . That swung the momentum in his favour and he reeled off the next three games in quick succession , including two breaks , to take the opener . Evans was looking increasingly weary , yet found himself serving for the second set after breaking his opponent to love . He could not see the job through , but found the resilience to win the resulting tiebreak . But that appeared to take a lot out of him and after De Minaur built a 3 – 0 lead in the third , Evans needed a medical time out . He could not be resurrected and De Minaur put his foot on the gas pedal , steaming to a four – set win after winning 12 successive games . Evans won just three points in the final – set procession , but left with his head held high . dpa pa d
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Source: The Namibia News Agency