Evans stuns seventh seed Cilic to advance

The gutsy world number 51, who reached his first ATP Tour final in Sydney last week, set up a contest with Australia’s Bernard Tomic or Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos. Ranked in the high 700s only a couple of years ago, Dan Evans was grinning from ear to ear after recording the biggest win of his career in a shade under three hours on Court Three. 

Croatian Cilic, who won his sole grand slam crown at Flushing Meadow in 2014, mixed 55 winners with 69 unforced errors and was able to convert just three of 19 break points during the match. Evans scored his first ever win over a top-10 player as recently as last week, beating Austria’s Dominic Thiem en route to the Sydney final. 

His win, one of the biggest upsets so far at the Australian Open, extends a strong showing by British players after five reached the second round, the best performance in 30 years. Evans, ranked 51, only broke into the top 100 last year.