Stefanos Tsitsipas will face world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the final
Friday 28 February 2020 19:31, UK
Dan Evans received a reality check as he was beaten 6-2 6-3 by Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Playing the fourth ATP Tour semi-final of his career, British No 1 Evans was comfortably beaten by rising star Tsitsipas, who did not face a break point during the match.
Evans had battled through to the last four with a victory over Andrey Rublev which is likely to seal his place in the world's top 30 when the new rankings are announced next week.
But his defeat to Tsitsipas illustrated the gulf between the top stars - the Greek 21-year-old won the tournament in Marseille last week - and the rest.
Evans had no answer as Tsitsipas broke for a 3-2 lead then secured the double break two games later with his own serve never looking in any danger.
Evans clung on in the early stages of the second set but was broken twice more as Tsitsipas moved through to the final in one hour and 21 minutes.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic came from a set down and saved three match points to maintain his unbeaten start to the season and his perfect record against Gael Monfils with a 2-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-1 victory.
Djokovic, who has not lost a singles match since the ATP Finals in London in November, had beaten Monfils in all 16 of their previous professional meetings dating back to 2005.
It looked like that record would come to an end when Monfils took advantage of an unusually-lacklustre display from Djokovic to ease through the first set and then led 6-3 in the second-set tie-break after saving a succession of set points.
But Frenchman Monfils, who had been looking for a third straight ATP Tour title, was unable to take any of them and eventually double-faulted on set point for Djokovic before wilting physically in the decider.
"It's like being on the edge of a cliff," said Djokovic about facing match points on the official ATP website.
"You know there is no way back so you have to jump over and try to find a way to survive I guess and pray for the best and believe that you can make it, that there is something that is going to help you.
"That's one of the things that I feel at the moment. Okay, one point away, one shot away. There is no going back. This is it. I accept the situation and try to make the most out of it."
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