"Hopefully there's more to come" - Dan Evans fights back tears in post-match interview after win over Tommy Paul at Eastbourne

Following an upset victory that sent the home crowd into raucous applause, Dan Evans was brought to the point of tears after his round of 6 win over second seed Tommy Paul at the ongoing Eastbourne Open.

The British star stopped a third set comeback from his American opponent to record a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory on Center Court on Wednesday. Evans was coming off another fourth round showing at last week's Queen's Club Championships, and will now face American Jenson Brooksby in the quarterfinals.

The 35-year old has struggled to maintain his form this season, competing in a handful of ATP Challenger events to sharpen his skills as Wimbledon approaches. Facing a younger Paul, Evans shocked the home crowd with his movement and shot placement, leading to a standing ovation after he pulled off the upset.

"To be honest, I felt good serving for the match," admitted Evans in his post-match interview on court. "It was more at one love, in the second, when I started to think about the winning line, which is an error. And then I sort of went down. I just said to myself ‘enjoy this; this is what it's about’.
"And I played much better tennis, stopped worrying about what he was doing. He started to play a bit better, and I then started to play very good when I stopped worrying about him so much. I played good tennis in the end, Again, an amazing crowd. Thanks again - you got me through."

The former World No.21 was then overcome with emotion, struggling to maintain his composure as the crowd encouraged him with generous applause.

"It is but I know I've done the work as well and once I’ve got the confidence that I knew the work was in the bank," admitted Evans. "A good friend said ‘if you're ready, and the door opens, you'll walk through it. If you're not, you won't’. And you know, there's no truer word for the past few weeks, and hopefully there's some more to come."

Evans will need the support of the crowd when he takes on the resurgent Brooksby, who defeated eighth seeded Portuguese star Nuno Borges in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals. This will be Evans first meeting against Brooksby on the main draw of the ATP Tour. Should Evans fail to get past his American opponent, then the Birmingham native will turn his attention to Wimbledon, where he has never been past the third round.