"Towards the end I was physically pretty tired, but it was good to get through"
Saturday 23 June 2018 12:52, UK
Britain's Dan Evans says he's had "perfect practice" as he moved three wins away from earning his place in the Wimbledon main draw.
Evans will enter qualifying for the main draw next week after victories over Marcus Willis and Jack Findel-Hawkins in pre-qualifying at Southlands College in Wimbledon on Friday.
The 28-year-old now requires three further wins at Roehampton from Monday to earn his place at the All England Club from July 2.
Evans demonstrated the ability that took him into the world's top 50 prior to serving a year-long ban.
His win over Findel-Hawkins represented the first time since his return from a drugs suspension two months ago that he played twice in a day, but successfully passed the test of his conditioning.
Evans said afterwards that he does not have anything to prove and would have preferred a wild card than having to go through pre-qualifying.
I don't have anything to prove to anybody. I've more got it to prove to myself than anyone, that I've made a catastrophic mistake, and that's it now.
"Towards the end I was physically pretty tired, but it was good to get through," said the world No 340.
"It's been pretty much perfect practice for qualifying. There'll be no one else in that draw who's had that good a court (to play on). It's a difficult tournament to come through.
"If someone says I'm not getting a wild card, I'm not getting a wild card. I can be as p***** off as I want, but I can't do anything about it. I can come here and be in a mood and not get through or I can play my matches, get through, and then I've got a good chance in qualifying of making the main draw.
"I don't have anything to prove to anybody. I've more got it to prove to myself than anyone, that I've made a catastrophic mistake, and that's it now.
"No one in Wimbledon's bothered that I'm through here, probably, so it's not that I'm going against them or doing it for anyone.
"It'd be a great achievement but it wouldn't be a massive sense of satisfaction. Believe me, I'd prefer a wild card than coming through these matches."
World No 730 Willis felt getting matches under his belt will be a good thing for his good friend Evans and admits the hardcourts of the US Open will be his main goal rather than Wimbledon.
He'll be just as keen to try to make the US Open. That will be his main goal. I've seen him around, head down, practising a lot.
"He has matured a lot; he must have had a lot of thinking time in that year off. Long-term it will be a good thing for him," he said.
"He is very, very focused. It sounds horrible but Wimbledon is just another tournament to him. He is thinking bigger picture than that, which is a very good mentality.
"He'll be just as keen to try to make the US Open. That will be his main goal. I've seen him around, head down, practising a lot."
We will have the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Mix from 12pm.
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