Wimbledon 2025: Dan Evans overcomes all British battle to set up potential second round clash against Novak Djokovic
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In a rare battle between two British wild card entrants, it was Dan Evans who came out on top against Jay Clarke to reach the second round at Wimbledon.
The British No.5 clocked a 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 win over Clarke to book a spot in the second round at SW19 for the first time since 2021.
Having been awarded a wild card to the main draw, Evans relished the opportunity to compete on the grass at the All England Club once again as he got the better of his compatriot in two hours and 14 minutes under the blistering sun on Court 12.
Speaking on his victory, “I thought, when I was walking to court, that I haven’t won here in a little bit. It was amazing,” Evans beamed in his on-court interview. “Really unfortunate to have to play Jay, two guys from the Midlands, I grew up with his sister and we went to the same academy together.
“Today meant everything. Wild card vs wild card but that was one of the top wins in my career.
“You look ahead to the grass court season, you know what’s coming and I had no wins. I don’t want to be that person asking for a wild card when I didn’t deserve it. I really needed wins, and feeling like I deserved it – not for the wild card but for myself.”
Evans’ prize for winning is a potential blockbuster meeting against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, should the Serbian come through his opener against Frenchman Alexandre Muller later today.
“I’m delighted to come through. It’s been tough but I played really well today. It was a difficult match and the heat didn’t help matters. I got through the other side – I wanted to win to get to get a chance at Novak (Djokovic).
I’d love it to be on Centre. That’s it, that’s all I ask. The chance to play him. I’d really go out there and give it a good go. Because it’s here it’s really special against the greatest of all time.
Evans has managed to hit a patch of good form this grass court season and made another bright start in his match against compatriot Clarke in what was the 21st all-British men’s singles match to take place at Wimbledon in the Open Era.
After narrowly escaping some early trouble on serve, Evans earned himself three break points on Clarke’s opening service game. The British No.6 tried to find the answers to the tricky Evans slice backhand but ran out of time as the former world No.21 hit a backhand down the line to secure the breakthrough.
Despite dropping the opener, Clarke - who has claimed four titles on the ITF tour so this year - raised his quality to match his compatriot in the second, as he tightened up on both his serve and return game.
Clarke earned a trio of break points at 2-1 and although the former Washington Open champion batted two away with a pair of aces, he eventually got his reward at the third time of asking but failed to consolidate as a determined Evans immediately responded.
The scoreboard locked at 5-5, Clarke was just one point away from guaranteeing himself a second set tie-break as he sped ahead to a 40-0 lead before Evans pulled back to deuce.
While Evans won just four more points overall (38) compared to Clarke (34) in a tight second set, it was the unforced errors that proved to be Clarke’s undoing as the British No.6 coughed up 18 compared to Evans’ eight.
A misfired drop shot into the net brought up yet another break point opportunity for the former British No.1 who grabbed the opportunity with both hands before closing out a two set advantage.
From there, it was one way traffic for the Birmingham-native who built up an insurmountable 5-2 lead in the third. Serving for the match and a chance to potentially compete against one of the greatest of all time, Evans sent a thumping serve down the T which Clarke failed to connect on as the 35-year-old broke into celebration in front of his home crowd.
Evans has clinched the first British win on day two of The Championships, with British action still to come - follow along with the results and updates.
