Ninth seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain defeated 12th seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-3 to win the Mubadala Citi DC Open title on Sunday night in Washington.
Evans, 33, notched his second career ATP title and his first victory at an ATP 500 event.
Evans won the final by absorbing Griekspoor’s 12 aces, claiming 32 of his 40 first-service points (80 percent) and saving all four break points he faced.
The match was suspended for a lengthy rain delay when Evans was ahead 7-5, 2-2. Once they returned, each player held serve once before Evans won the final three games, fighting off four break points in the ninth game before prevailing on his first match point.
Evans had been slumping when he arrived in the nation’s capital, losing seven straight tour-level matches before going on a major run. He won his first two matches in three sets before straight-sets upsets of No. 2 seed and local favorite Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals and No. 5 seed Grigor Dimitrov in the semis.
–Field Level Media
