SURBITON, June 7, 2018
Dan Evans advanced to the quarterfinals at the €127,000 Fuzion 100 Surbiton Trophy thanks to straight set victory over Mats Moraing on Wednesday.
The British qualifier recorded his fifth victory in a row on the grass courts at Surbiton Racket & Fitness Club when he withstood 16 aces from the big-serving German, breaking serve one time to secure a 7-6(4), 6-3 win in one hour and 19 minutes. Evans will now have a day off before taking on Jürgen Melzer, a former world No. 8 and Wimbledon doubles champion, in the last eight on Friday.
“He served well so it was a difficult match with not a lot of rallies,” said Evans. “I hung in and tried to keep the ball in the court as much as possible, he’s been doing well lately so it’s a good win.”
No. 3 seed Yuki Bhambri of India edged past Aelx Bolt 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to face sixth favourite Alex de Minaur from Australia, who knocked off fellow #NextGenATP Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-6.
The No. 1 seeds in the men’s doubles Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi from Pakistan and Divij Sharan of India didn’t fare so well, falling in straight sets to the wild card pairing of Alex Bolt and Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the last match on Centre Court.
Taylor continues good run of form
Gabriella Taylor (photo: Chloe Knott)
In the $100,000 ITF Women’s event, Gabriella Taylor eased to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Fanny Stollar in just 75 minutes, an impressive feat considering the Hungarian is not only ranked higher but the Brit was also feeling under the weather.
“I did well considering I haven’t been feeling well and I was coughing nonstop during the match,” said the world No. 184. “It was hard to get my breath back and sustain my level but in some ways it helped because I’ve got nothing to lose. I know I’m not 100% so it takes any kind of pressure off me and I just focused on being aggressive and believing in myself.”
Next up for Taylor will be Conny Perrin from Switzerland who came through a close three-setter against lucky loser Nadja Gilchrist from the United States 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
No. 2 seed Alison Riske dropped just five games on her way to victory over Katy Dunne of Great Britain and will now face No. 9 seed Kristie Ahn in an all-US-American quarterfinal. It was a disappointing day for Dunne who also exited the doubles competition with partner Harriet Dart after the pair were narrowly beaten by No. 2 seeds Priscilla Hon from Australia and Stollar 6-3, 6-7(4) 10-6.
Doubles top seeds Monique Adamczak of Australia and Briton Laura Robson are through to the semi-finals after a 6-2, 7-6(4) victory over Asia Muhammad and Ingrid Neel from the United States.
