Dan Evans progressed to the final of the Citi Open with a straight-sets victory over Grigor Dimitrov in Washington.
The British number two eclipsed his Bulgarian opponent 6-3 7-6 (4) in just under two hours to set up a meeting with Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands.
Despite being overmatched in the power department, Evans put together a clean and composed performance as a sloppy Dimitrov was left to rue his own mistakes.
Spectacular shot from Dan Evans! 🤩 @mubadalacitidc | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/fRhNSlM7xx
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 6, 2023
The world number 20 fired 24 winners to just nine from Evans, but came unstuck with 30 unforced errors.
Evans, who beat both Alexander Shevchenko and second seed Frances Tiafoe on Friday to reach the last four, is the first British player to make the final in Washington since Andy Murray in 2006.
He told the ATP’s website: “It was so hard after yesterday putting in such a big effort.
A drop shot *that* good to set up match point?
Ridiculous from Dan Evans at #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/OFU5SeuOzZ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 6, 2023
“Coming back today it was really important to not roll over and have a bad performance.
“The last few months that has happened a little bit. I’m really proud I could do that today. One more to go.”
Victory on Sunday would give Evans the second ATP title of his career following his victory in Melbourne in 2021.
Meanwhile, Griekspoor shocked American top seed Taylor Fritz in three sets in their semi-final clash as the world number 37 seeks his third title of the season.
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