E-Paper
Kevin Pietersen apologises to Australian Open star Dan Evans with match tickets
Kevin Pietersen sent T20 match tickets to Dan Evans as an apology after he had brushed aside the British tennis player who wanted a selfie with him outside a Melbourne restaurant
Dan Evans may have many highlights to carry home from the Australian Open this year as he trumped and challenged some of the best players in the world.
Read more | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beats Dan Evans to book quarterfinal berth
The British tennis player, who was in the 700s two years ago but climbed to within the top 50 this year, had to play matches in self-purchased T-shirts costing $15 as he couldn’t renew his kit sponsorship deal. But that didn’t deter him as he impressed in his Australia stint. His performances included reaching his first ATP final at the Sydney International and wins over Marin Cilic and local Bernard Tomic at the Australian Open.
Read more | Dan Evans stuns seventh seed Marin Cilic to advance to 3rd round
However, asked for the highlight of his trip, Evans gave a mischievous grin and mentioned an incident that initially made him fume “for 20 minutes”.
That anger was sparked by a brush-off he received from Kevin Pietersen when he requested a selfie with his favourite England cricketer outside a Melbourne restaurant.
Evans said on Sunday that the South Africa-born batsman had got in touch and sent him some tickets for a Twenty20 match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“Wondering what is going to happen to his image. That’s probably the only reason he did it,” Evans said.
Evans will return home with more than A$200000 ($151,020) in his pocket and almost certainly to a new kit sponsor.
