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Ninth seed Dan Evans of Great Britain beat 12th seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-3 to win the 2023 Citi Open in Washington last Sunday, 6th August. It was the 33-year-old Evans’ second career ATP singles title, as he signed off a wonderful week with a clinical performance in the final.
This also marked Evans' first ATP 500 title. He finished Griekspoor’s resistance in less than a couple of hours to clinch the title and the win should come as a welcome boost at this stage of the Brit’s career.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match:
#1 Dan Evans went to the net frequently in the first set
Evans kept hitting approaches one after another in the first set before going to the net to finish off points with volleys. He also kept mixing up backhand slices in the rallies to take the pace off the ball and make Griekspoor exert extra power behind his shots.
Still, the Dutchman managed to save a couple of break points in the ninth game of the first set before holding his serve. However, Evans finally broke him in the 12th game to win the first set with a decisive break of serve and draw first blood.
#2 Dan Evans reigned supreme with his backhand in the second set
Evans demonstrated the effectiveness of his one-handed backhand extensively in the second set. His down-the-line backhand won him a lot of points. Moreover, he also managed to hit a few crosscourt passes and lobs off his backhand.
The Brit broke Griekspoor in the eighth game of the second set to go 5-3 up. The Dutchman then tried desperately to get the break back in the subsequent game and also had a number of break points in it. However, Evans held his nerves to hold his serve somehow and thereby finish the match off.
Griekspoor served 12 aces in the clash and his powerful first serve bailed him out on a number of occasions. However, he struggled with his second serve and was able to win only 22% of the points on it on the night.
Evans, meanwhile, won a staggering 98% of the points on his first serve in the final and was never broken. It was a clinical performance that saw him through and register the most important victory of his career.
