Dan Evans will be forced to finish off his US Open thriller with France’s Corentin Moutet on Friday after the rain hit New York.
British No. 1 Evans was one point away from forcing a third-set tiebreak at 6-4 3-6 5-6, A-40 when the rain paused play and tournament organisers decided to pull the plug with the weather showing no signs of improvement less than an hour later.
Should Evans win, he could face compatriot Andy Murray, who will be able to complete his match against Felix Auger-Aliassime under the Arthur Ashe roof on Thursday night.
On Court 5, it was a fabulous showcase of unorthodox, flair tennis – with plenty of bite to boot. Moutet, the 21-year-old world No. 77 from France, more than played his part in a dramatic encounter.
Both goaded each other, with Evans regularly screaming ‘Allez’ and Moutet responding with a sarcastic ‘Come on’ in return.
No spot on the court was left uncovered with wicked slices, lobs, and drop-shots deployed on a regular basis and the flow of the match was equally unpredictable.
Despite being broken in the opening game, Evans took the first set after reeling off four games in a row from 4-2 down.
Moutet responded well, breaking Evans twice in the second set to draw level.
But the third was the most dramatic of the clash.
Evans twice led and was twice pegged back by the Frenchman, who then had a set point at 6-5.
It was saved by the top-ranked Brit but when was a point away from a breaker, the rain came and the match was suspended.
Dominic Thiem, the second seed from Austria, made light work of India’s Sumit Nagal to reach the third round, where he will face 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic.
In what was a straightforward night’s work for the world No. 3, there was one moment of frustration when he was asked to stop drinking a can of Red Bull on court.
‘It’s not allowed, the Red Bull can, on court, which is completely fine,’ said the 27-year-old on his birthday. ‘I know that.
‘Sometimes it helps me a lot on court, so I want to have it. I can also drink it in a plain cup. There was a little bit of a conversation. Well, I don’t want to tell the details now. It was a little bit awkward, I guess. Next time I’m going to go with a plain cup, that’s it.
‘They wanted to go out with the open can and fill it in a plain cup without me observing it. That’s what pissed me off a little bit because the anti-doping rules are so strict.
‘I don’t want to lose the can out of my sight. In general, they are so strict rules these days, and they propose me to fill the can in a plain cup without me observing it. That pissed me off a little bit.’
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