LONDON — British wild card Dan Evans upset world No. 13 Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-2 on Monday for his first win at Queen’s Club since 2021.
Backhand slices and quick net reflexes underpinned No. 199 Evans’ second-ever top-20 win on grass. The first was at Wimbledon in 2019.
“I still believed I’ve got that tennis in me and I still believe I can do good things inside the top 100. But believing it and it happening is a lot different,” Evans said. “You know how some days you think, ‘Are you deluded, are you nuts, have you still got it, still got it in your legs?’ Today showed I still have a bit left.”
Other first-round winners included fourth-seeded Holger Rune and eighth-seeded Jakub Mensik in his Queen’s debut. The 19-year-old Czech hit 20 aces while beating former finalist Cameron Norrie 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-1.
Mensik next faces Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, a three-set comeback winner over Nuno Borges of Portugal, while Rune lined up Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S., who ousted Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 6-4.
The top two seeds are Wimbledon and French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, and Taylor Fritz, who won Stuttgart on Sunday for his fourth title on grass.
