Madrid Open: Dan Evans wins, Ashleigh Barty beats Petra Kvitova

Evans has won six matches on clay this year, having previously only won four times on the surface in his career

British number one Dan Evans continued his good form on clay to reach the Madrid Open last 16 with a three-set win against Australia’s John Millman.

Evans was edged out of the first set in a tie-break, but maintained his focus and used variety to fight back.

He turned the match around to win 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3 and will face German fifth seed Alexander Zverev next.

In the women’s event, Australian world number one Ashleigh Barty beat Czech Petra Kvitova to reach the semi-finals.

Barty, who won 6-1 3-6 6-3 against the three-time champion, will face Spanish wildcard Paula Badosa in the last four.

For Evans, it was another notable win on a surface where he had struggled throughout his career until this year.

The 30-year-old showed he had the ability to succeed on the dirt by beating world number one Novak Djokovic on his way to reaching the Monte Carlo semi-finals last month.

He had never reached the last 16 of an ATP Masters 1,000 singles tournament before that run, but has replicated that achievement in Madrid after outplaying and outlasting the energetic Millman.

“It feels great, when you play someone like John if you don’t accept it is going to hurt a little you will struggle. It hurt at points but it was worth it,” said Evans.

On facing 2018 champion Zverev, he added: “It will suit him here because it is [a] very lively [court] but if I get into the match and stay close I have a good chance to cause him some difficulties.”