Australian Open: Dan Evans sets up Andrey Rublev meeting after straight-sets Jeremy Chardy win

Dan Evans set up a third-round meeting with No5 seed Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open following an occasionally fractious straight-sets win over Jeremy Chardy.

The British No2 kept the Frenchman at arm’s length throughout the contest for a 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 victory.

There was a heated exchange in the opening set between Chardy and the umpire after a let was called when a ball dropped out of his pocket. But his forehand at the time hit the net for his serve to be broken and the official refused to replay the point.

Chardy, though, can have little complaint over the outcome of the match as Evans consistently broke him early in all three sets to set up the Rublev clash.

Following his win, Evans said: “You never go out there looking for a fast one but, once I got on top, it was important to stay on top and take care of the third set. I let three break points go in the first game of the third set but, in the end, I did a good job.”

Keeping his cool: Dan Evans successfully navigated a fractious tie against Jeremy Chardy
AFP via Getty Images

Chardy was fuming over the moment in the first set when he felt the point should have been replayed at break point. The 35-year-old called it the “biggest mistake of the Australian Open” but Evans was unconvinced.

“I’m not sure how much he believed in his argument,” he said. “If that was me and I really believed in it I would have been more forceful in my arguments.

Australian Open 2023 - In pictures

2023 Australian Open - Day 8
1/39

“I didn’t see the ball come out of his pocket, I didn’t know where it had come from. The only bad job the umpire did was letting it drag on and not getting us back out there to play.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in