Dan Evans is proud of “fantastic” US Open despite double defeat | Tennis | Sport

Dan Evans claimed his “incredible week” at the US Open proved: “I'm still pretty good at tennis.” The British No. 5 reached the final Grand Slam of the year after a run of ten consecutive defeats in tour-level singles dating back to March.

But the Brummie won the longest match in US Open history in the first round, forcing world number 10 Alex De Minaur into four sets despite a hip injury. And the 34-year-old Davis Cup winner said: “This week has brought a lot of good things. It's not that I've lost the love of tennis, but it's given me a little insight. I'm still pretty good and that's a nice feeling to walk away from.”

“I'm a little hurt, of course. I thought I had a chance against Demon, but it wasn't meant to be, and he was successful and the draw was nice, and I've been waiting for a long time to see something like that, but I wasn't good enough.

“I'll probably sleep well for the next four or five days and put this behind me pretty quickly. It's been an incredible week. I came to America with no expectations and a lot of doubts and left with the certainty that I can still do it at a higher level, not quite the top level, but the higher level.

“I liked it there. New York is just a great place to play tennis. And I took it in. I looked around and I liked what I saw. Playing in front of those people. It's not going to last forever. We all know that.

“And it's probably the first time I've looked around and seen people smiling and shouting at me. And all three matches were great. I'm leaving with great tennis in my legs and that's a good thing for the rest of the year and the Davis Cup.”

Evans will represent Great Britain in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Manchester next week before attempting to climb from his current 184th place in the rankings – and then hopefully reach the Davis Cup final in November.

The former world number 21 said: “I'm not too worried if I have the qualities of Australia. I will do my best. But if I'm not even close, I will play some Challenger tournaments after the Davis Cup and hopefully we qualify for the finals. That's the priority.”

Despite illness and a hip injury, Evans refused to give up during his third-round loss to De Minaur, winning just three points in the final set – and just one of the last 19 – and was even booed by parts of the crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Saturday night.

“I wasn't tempted to quit,” he said. “I think it's about respect. I was doing relatively well in the third set. It was quite puzzling that they started booing me, even though, ironically, I stayed on the court for them.”

“And of course I respect Alex. I don't think you should give up in a Grand Slam. You finish the match. That's just my way. And that's how I was brought up.

“You stay until the end and shake hands. And he actually said, 'Thank you for staying out there, respect.' And that's not why I do it. But people come in and pay, and some are happy, some aren't.”

“After the second set it was '6-0 6-0'. But that's irrelevant to me. I don't give a damn if the score is '6-0 6-0'. I stayed there until the last ball and fought.”