Dan Evans admitted switching off from tennis for a little while would help him get over more first-round disappointment at Wimbledon.
The British number two exited SW19 at the first hurdle for a fifth time in eight main draw appearances following a 6-2 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-4 defeat to France’s Quentin Halys.
Evans was knocked out by Australian Jason Kubler in round one last year and quickly found himself in the familiar position of being two sets down at the All England Club on Monday, but had to return on Tuesday to complete his match.
Rain produced a further delay and when all of the outside court matches were cancelled, Evans saw his clash moved to Centre Court where he pulled a set back.
But there would be no late-night heroics with Halys able to clinch his place in the second round with a booming forehand winner.
“I think now it’s important to spend time with family, friends. Tennis won’t be on my agenda for a little while,” Evans reflected after an underwhelming grass-court campaign.
“You know, it’s been a long six months or seven months, whatever it is. It’s important to recharge and get ready for a good swing in America, which I enjoy, but it’s important to rest as well. Yeah, that’s all I’m really going to do for a bit and then start back up.
“I think it’s important to totally switch off now. You know, it’s important to step away sometimes, to live a bit of a normal life and get away from living out of a suitcase for a long time.”
World number 30 Evans was at a loss to explain his flat display on Monday against a player who only made his Wimbledon debut in 2022.
After waiting all day to begin his comeback quest, Evans edged a third-set tie-breaker, much to the delight of those still in attendance on Centre Court.
Break points had been hard to come by for the Birmingham right-hander and when he was presented with an opportunity in the seventh game of the fourth set, Evans sent his forehand long and Halys claimed victory with his first match point to inflict a seventh defeat in eight for the 33-year-old home favourite.
Evans added: “I have done nothing different, so yeah it’s disappointing, but, you know, they’re good players out there. I think everyone is guilty of having opinions on certain players you should beat, you shouldn’t beat.
“I think when the draw came out, I must have had that many messages saying, ‘Quentin Halys is a clay court player’. It’s very easy to overlook people.
“They’re all good players on the tour and you have to put them away, that’s what I try and do but if I’m losing, which I am at the minute, you know – I wouldn’t say I’ve hit a wall. It’s frustrating, it’s annoying, it’s whatever.
“But I’m not sure what else you can do. You’ve just got to keep competing. It is no good practising, I tried that. I tried to take Eastbourne off and took Nottingham off, and first round, first round, it’s incredibly frustrating.”
Having not dropped outside of the top-40 since 2020, Evans will hope to bounce back for the hard-court US swing in August.
He will have to spend some of the next few weeks working out his coaching team after splitting with Sebastian Prieto last month.
“I’ve got to look at that,” Evans acknowledged.
“You know, I’ll leave incredibly frustrated after tonight, to work hard and then serve a double at 30-all.
“But like I said previously, it’s important to switch off. When I feel it’s right, I’ll start thinking about it.”
Sabalenka sets up Swiatek rematch at Madrid Open
Aryna Sabalenka will face Iga Swiatek in the Madrid Open final for the second year running after beating Elena Rybakina 1-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5) in a semi-final classic on Thursday.
Fourth seed Rybakina made a flying start and took the opener within just 25 minutes, but Sabalenka hit back in a topsy-turvy second set featuring five breaks of serve to force a decider.
Both players were imperious on their own serve from there, with a tie-break required to split them. Sabalenka's power looked likely to overwhelm Rybakina as she raced into a 5-1 lead, but the former Wimbledon champion clung on by saving two match points on her own serve.
Sabalenka would not be denied third time around, though, a huge serve giving Rybakina no chance as the defending champion teed up a rematch with Swiatek, who she beat in the Spanish capital in last year's showpiece match.
Data Debrief: Sabalenka's unwanted record
Sabalenka has dropped 60 games at this year's Madrid Open. That makes her the player with the most games dropped en route to reaching the final since the tournament's inception in 2009.
The world number two had to dig deep in a match which saw Rybakina win more total points (99 to 95), but she will not mind one bit if she goes on to capture a third Madrid Open title on Saturday.
Lehecka into maiden Masters semi-final after Medvedev retires hurt
Jiri Lehecka progressed to the first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final of his career as Daniil Medvedev retired hurt on Thursday at the Madrid Open.
Lehecka, who beat the great Rafael Nadal in the last 16, had just taken the first set 6-4 when Medvedev threw in the towel.
Medvedev had earlier received treatment from the physio, having seemingly struggled when moving to his right side.
"It's never easy in a match like this," Lehecka said. "If I were to choose the way how to win this match, it wouldn't be like that.
"So of course, it's never easy to see your opponent struggling, but at that moment, you just need to focus on yourself, trying to get the maximum level out of yourself."
Lehecka will face Felix Auger-Aliassime, who progressed thanks to a walkover following Jannik Sinner's withdrawal, for a place in the final.
Data Debrief: Czech mates
Lehecka is the third Czech player to reach the semi-finals in Madrid, following Jiri Vovak and Tomas Berdych.
Should Lehecka reach the final, he will move into the top 20 of the ATP rankings for the first time.
Swiatek races into Madrid Open final with dominant win over Keys
Iga Swiatek cruised into her second Madrid Open final on Thursday, maintaining her ominous form by beating Madison Keys 6-1 6-3 within 71 minutes.
Swiatek had been forced to fight back from a set down against Beatriz Haddad Maia in the quarter-finals, but there was no slow start on Thursday as she broke Keys' serve to love at the first attempt.
Only in the fifth game, when Keys failed to convert two break points, was Swiatek troubled in a 31-minute opener, and she carried that momentum into the second set with another early break.
Having eliminated Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur on a deeply impressive run, Keys had no answer for Swiatek's power as she clinically worked her way through the second set, the American's forehand running long on match point to seal a routine win for the world number one.
Having lost last year's final against Aryna Sabalenka, Swiatek could face a rematch against the defending champion, who takes on Elena Rybakina in Thursday's other semi-final.
Data Debrief: Swiatek surpasses Serena
Saturday's final will be Swiatek's 11th at WTA 1000-level, the Pole going all the way on 37.9 per cent of her 29 main-draw entries at that level. That is a better ratio than 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams managed in her glittering career, the American doing so at 18 of 49 WTA 1000 tournaments (36.7 per cent).
Swiatek has now played eight matches in 2024 without dropping a single game on her own serve, a tally only matched by her possible final opponent Sabalenka on the WTA tour.
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