Dan Evans revealed he was annoyed with Novak Djokovic before the start of their third round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday.
Evans defeated Djokovic 6-4, 7-5 to score the biggest win of his career and snap the Serb’s unbeaten 10-match streak since the start of 2021 in singles.
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“He kept me waiting at the start of the match in the changing room,” said Evans. “It was a little annoying. That got me a little extra fired up.”
The World No 33 was also not pleased about Lorenzo Musetti’s behavior last week. The young Italian had alleged that Evans had ‘disrespected’ him during their first round clash at the Sardegna Open, which Musetti won 6-1, 1-6, 7-6.
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“Young Musetti should get certain manners on him,” Evans responded.
“How he spoke last week was embarrassing. Let’s not talk about Musetti in my press conference. Last week he said some things in the Italian press about me that were disrespectful. If he apologizes, I will answer. He’s a good tennis player, but he’s got no manners.”
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On court, Evans continued to impress at the Monte Carlo Masters.
He defeated David Goffin, a player bred on clay, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 42 minutes on Friday to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal.
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“I felt a bit more pressure today to not [just] win yesterday and give a bad performance today,” the 30-year-old Brit said after his quarterfinal win.
“It wasn’t easy after the match yesterday, I felt really tired afterwards. To get back and focus, it was difficult. I am proud of how I came back today, especially with what happened in the first set.
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“I felt [my] concentration wasn’t great and I am really happy with coming through. Yesterday, would not have been worth it with a bad performance today.
“He was being aggressive towards me. At the start, I was [having to] retrieve. He got on top and I could feel that. He had a little chance at the start of the second set, which I got out of and it just turned it for me, I think.”
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