Throwback
Stunning the world No.1: When Dan Evans took down Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo
Coming into the 2021 clay court season, then British No.1 Dan Evans was hoping to spark form on what had otherwise been his weakest surface throughout his career.
Evans arrived at the Monte Carlo Masters – one of the four premier ATP tournaments in the clay court calendar, alongside Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros – on a 10-match losing streak on the surface.
However, his fortunes changed during the early rounds in Monaco, with the world No.33 knocking out former runner-up Dusan Lajovic followed by a win over the reigning Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz.
A pair of impressive wins on his least favourite surface set Evans up for a first meeting with world No.1 Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic looked unstoppable at the start of the year and arrived at the tournament undefeated in all 10 matches he’d played, including yet another Australian Open title.
The two had never met before, but given his ranking, form and past success on the surface, Djokovic was the overwhelming favourite – but that wouldn’t deter the British star.
Stepping out onto Court Rainer III, it was Evans who oozed confidence from the opening rally, dismantling Djokovic’s game with his brilliant variety and all-round game.
The Briton raced out to an early 3-0 lead, capitalising on some poor mistakes from the then 18-time Grand Slam champion, and put himself in the driving seat.
While Djokovic later conceded that he wasn’t at his best, the Serbian still found a way back to 4-4 before Evans showed the killer instinct to break for a third time and see out the set.
Evans then found himself on the back foot – trailing 3-0 in the early parts of the second set – but the Brit refused to let the opportunity slip through his fingers.
He came back to level at 3-3 and then saved a set point before breaking again three games later. With the pressure of serving out the biggest victory of his life and for a place in his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final, Evans kept his cool to see out the win.
"He gave away some cheap ones today, which he never normally does,” Evans said, speaking after the biggest win of his career. “I'm just really happy.”
"My game plan was to try to bring him forward and have him hit the ball low in the court. It was difficult to get to the net and I felt sometimes I was doing too much running.
"I also thought I did a good job to get out of my service games. He had so many break points and didn't take them, so I was a little lucky there."
Djokovic was full of respect for Evans after the match, conceding that the British star’s creative style of play made it tough for him to build momentum.
"He deserved to win,” Djokovic explained. “He was a better player. He was just more focused I guess and played with a better quality in the decisive moments.
"He's really a nice player to watch, not a great player to play against. Lots of talent. He's very unpredictable with his shots. He dismantled my game."
Until November 2025, when Cam Norrie defeated Carlos Alcaraz at the Rolex Paris Masters, Evans was the last British singles player to defeat a world No.1.
Given the match-up, the surface, and Djokovic’s form coming into the match, it has to go down as one of the best British results of the 2020s so far.