Dan Evans is the second Briton to reach the third round of the Australian Open this year. Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 16-29 January Coverage: Commentary daily from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra ‘Tennis Breakfast’ live from Melbourne, with a selection of live text commentary and match reports on the BBC website and app Sport
Britain’s Dan Evans reached the third round of the Australian Open, helped by winning a freak point that angered his opponent Jeremy Chardy.
Evans won 6-4 6-4 6-1 but the French veteran was unhappy the umpire did not allow a break in the first set when a ball fell out of his pocket.
Evans, 32, picked up the key break when Chardy netted to seal victory in less than two hours.
“I’m not sure how much he believed his argument,” said the 25th-ranked Evans.
Evans put the drama behind him with a confident performance that set him up for a third-round match against Russian fifth seed Andrei Rublev.
“You never go out there looking for a quick one, but once I went up it was important to stay on top and take care of the third set,” said Evans, whose best performance in Melbourne came in 2017 when he reached to the fourth round.
“I gave up three break points in the first game of the third set, but in the end I did a good job.”
Evans is the second British player to reach the third round of the Australian Open this year, with Cameron Norrie going through on Wednesday and Andy Murray hoping to join them by defeating Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis later on Thursday.
Why was shardy furious and what is the rule?
After hitting the net with the shot after the ball fell out of his pocket, Chardy appealed to referee Miriam Blay to replay the point.
When the ball falls out of a player’s pocket, it is classed as obstruction and a drop – meaning the point is restarted – must be called at the moment it happens to stop play.
Blay called, but her payoff came after Chardy hit a forehand into the net.
Chardy, 35, called it “the biggest mistake of the Australian Open” and accused the umpire of “watching the birds” instead of playing.
There was a long delay while Chardy challenged the decision and after being told to continue, his objections continued over the next few games.
Evans had little sympathy for his opponent, although he did admit that allowing a putt for a ball falling out of a fielder’s pocket was “the worst rule ever”.
“If it was me and I really believed it, I would be stronger in my arguments,” he said.
“I didn’t see the ball come out of his pocket, I didn’t know where it came from.
“The only bad thing the ref did was he let it drag on and didn’t get us back in the game.”
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