By Ricky Dimon
Dan Evans won the first-ever Battle of the Brits by defeating Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday afternoon. Evans has climbed to a career-high ranking of No. 28 in the world and he went undefeated this week through group play and the knockout rounds.
The final may not have been quite as one-sided as the score suggests. The two countrymen traded breaks right away before Evans took control of the first set. Edmund went up a break early in the second but could not maintain his lead. He was broken at love while serving at 3-5 to bring about a sudden end to the proceedings.
The third-place match pit Cameron Norrie against James Ward after Andy Murray withdrew. Murray lost to Evans in a super-tiebreaker during semifinal action on Friday evening and opted to not play on Sunday simply as a precaution (he cited shin issues). Norrie went on to beat Ward in straight sets.
“I wasn’t sure how it was going to be but it literally felt like a tournament event. The players have been raving about the tournament all week. It’s been a great week and hopefully we can all do it again.”
Of course, the reality is that hopefully we won’t have to do it again. The ATP and WTA Tours are scheduled to return in mid-August, which would obviously kick local exhibition events back to the curb.
Based on current plans, ATP’s comeback event will be the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. That will be followed by “Cincinnati” (the Western & Southern Open, to be exact) and the U.S. Open both at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. A modified clay-court swing will take center stage thereafter, featuring Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros.