- Updates from top seed’s latest match at Flushing Meadows
- Get in touch: email Bryan or tweet him your thoughts
Hello and welcome to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for today’s sixth day of the US Open. It’s a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in Queens – 74F (23C) with light wind and hardly a cloud in the sky – as the top half of the men’s draw looks to book passage to the round of 16.
First up on Arthur Ashe Stadium is a third-round clash between Britain’s Dan Evans and Carlos Alcaraz, the world’s top-ranked player (for another nine days at least) and defending US Open champion who is coming in off a drama-free second-round win over Lloyd Harris.
The past few weeks, however, have been particularly significant in the context of Evans’ career. Before the US hard court summer, it had been one of his most difficult periods since he returned from his doping ban after testing positive for cocaine.
Between February and July, Evans had compiled a dire five-win, 14-defeat record and he had lost in the first round at 12 of those events. After the French Open, a straight-sets loss to the world No 108, Thanasi Kokkinakis, he was deeply frustrated and at a loss about how to dig himself out of the hole. He eventually opted to split from his coach, Sebastián Prieto, and the rest of his Argentinian team.
