An unrenewed sponsorship deal meant Dan Evans was forced to carry out his Australian Open heroics in clothes he bought himself from a local sports retailer. After seeing off Facundo Bagnis in the opening round, World No. 51 Evans stunned seventh seed Marin Cilic in the major shock of Wednesday's action.
Cilic took the first set but Evans hit back brilliantly to advance 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the third round for a third Grand Slam in succession. Evans revealed he was being forced to pay for his own equipment after Nike opted not to renew his deal and that was not his only concern, after seemingly being snubbed by cricket star Kevin Pietersen in a Melbourne casino.
Hey >@KP24 any chance I can have a picture? You refused me the other night in the crown
— Dan Evans (@Evo151216) >January 18, 2017
"Hey @KP24 any chance I can have a picture? You refused me the other night in the crown," Evans tweeted following his victory.
Just to rub it in, Andy Murray's mother Judy replied that Pietersen had agreed to a similar request from her. "@Evo151216 @DavidLawTennis @KP24 He didn't refuse me......... #justsaying," she posted.
'Out of contract'
"I'm just out of contract with Nike. They didn't offer me another contract," Evans said in his media conference when discussing his shopping spree. "I just went to the store and bought a load of clothes the other day, plain clothes. What was it, Sunday? Sunday or Saturday. It's Uniqlo. $19.99, the shirts are. I didn't look [at the shorts], I just picked the shorts up. I was more worried about the shirts.
"I think about 18 shirts, something like that. I went back this morning to buy some more, so... They're not the best quality. To sweat in and wash them. I only wore one shirt today. I'm good till Friday. We're good."
When asked if another deal was on the horizon, Evans replied: "No. Not at the minute anyway. We'll see. Another win, I might get one."
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