Dan Evans: There's always more to beating Andy Murray than tennis

Top-ranked British tennis player Dan Evans claims every player is giving its absolute best at the Battle of the Brits and nobody is treating it like an exhibition event. 

Evans, who is enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 28 in the world, defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-3 on Thursday to cement the top spot of Greg Rusedski Group. 

"To be honest with you, that’s the first time I’ve heard it called an exhibition," Evans said after beating Norrie, as revealed on Metro UK.

"No one here is treating it as an exhibition. Yeah, you’re trying to raise money for the NHS but everyone is trying to win."

On Saturday, Evans will face three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray. 

Evans, 30, admits he won't be treating it as a regular meeting as playing Murray and beating the former world No. 1 is quite a feeling.

"It’d be difficult. There’s always more to beating Andy than tennis. You always think how good he was. It’s a difficult match but I’ll have to deal with that;" Evans said.  

"The four guys [Evans, Murray, Norrie and Kyle Edmund] who are the seeds here are very, very closely matched as it is at the minute."

Both Dan Evans and Murray coming off a win 

Murray has claimed two wins and dropped one match in his three matches played at the Battle of the Brits.

On Thursday, Murray handed a straight-set defeat to James Ward 6-3 7-5. 

"It was really tough. I felt like Wardy played well, he was dictating points early on. We had a lot of long games," Murray said.

"Physically, it was a pretty tough match. I’m feeling my hip a little bit but it’s not really effecting my movement. 

"When I was playing Davis Cup in November, it was. My hip was sore when I moved. I’m feeling it a little just now but that was the best I’ve moved in the three matches. I’m delighted that I’ve got a rest day tomorrow because I’m very, very tired. 

"I probably could have been a bit more aggressive on my backhand. I feel like I’ve been hitting my forehand good."

Murray was twice down by a break in the first set and also down by a break in the second set but he claimed a total of five breaks to overturn the deficit. 

Dan Evans and Murray have no previous meetings.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2ZdcTLP