Dan Evans to team up with Kyrgios again

Dan Evans, who has worked hard to shed the tag of being British tennis' bad boy, can understand Australia's fascination with doubles partner Nick Kyrgios.

Daniel Evans of Great Britain

Dan Evans (Pic) can understand Australia's fascination with doubles partner Nick Kyrgios. (AAP)

Dan Evans, who has worked hard to shed the reputation of being British tennis' bad boy, will reignite his doubles partnership with Nick Kyrgios at the Australian Open.

Evans was labelled a wasted talent by pundits and had his professionalism questioned in the early stages of his career.

A knee injury saw the 26-year-old fall from Davis Cup hero in 2012 to a world ranking of 772 in 2015.

Evans has made headlines more recently for his form on the court, especially at last year's US Open.

He pushed eventual winner Stan Wawrinka throughout five sets and four hours, blowing match point in a fourth-set tiebreak.

This year has already started in promising fashion, with Evans set to break into the top 50 after reaching his maiden ATP final at the Sydney International.

Evans and Kyrgios are fully focused on their singles campaigns in Melbourne, which start against Facundo Bagnis and Gastao Elias respectively on Monday.

But the player born, raised and residing in Birmingham is also looking forward to joining forces with Kyrgios. The duo reached the third round of men's doubles at the 2016 US Open, their first grand slam as a pairing.

"We were in Perth together. We're actually playing in Melbourne together, we'll see how that goes," Evans said after losing the Sydney final on Saturday night.

"He's a great player."

Evans suggested there was a simple reason his friend captured so much attention in Australia, especially at this time of year.

"He's (top) 30 in the world," he said of Kyrgios, who is once again widely regard as Australia's greatest hope of a local winner at this year's Open.

"People want to get involved in his sort of life when you're that good. It's part and parcel of his sort of stature, I'd say."

Both men have faced a lot of scrutiny in their homelands but Evans, who was warned for racquet abuse during a straight-sets loss to Gilles Muller in the Sydney final, suggested there weren't that many similarities.

"All mine was pretty much my own fault," he quipped.

"I'm not Australian. No one cares if I win or lose (at the Australian Open)."

Evans recorded his maiden ATP win over a top-10 player in Sydney, ousting top seed Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals. He fell 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to Muller in the tournament decider.

"I'm a bit tired but it's a grand slam. They're great events and what I really look forward to playing all year," he said, when asked about the brutal turnaround between matches.


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Source: AAP



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