Dan Evans will face Novak Djokovic in the second round at Wimbledon and he only has one request for the huge clash.
The Brit, who breezed past fellow countryman Jay Clarke in straight sets, will take on the tennis icon on Thursday.
Evans, making perhaps his farewell Wimbledon appearance, will face one of the game’s greats nextGetty Djokovic won his first round match in four setsAFPFollowing Evans’ 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 win over Clarke, Djokovic went on to beat Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-1 6-7 (7-9) 6-2 6-2.
It has now set up a thrilling second-round tie and it’s a match that Evans is understandably buzzing to get involved in.
Speaking before it was confirmed that Djokovic would be his next opponent at SW19, Evans was asked about the Serbian.
And he picked out only one thing he wants most out of the clash against the ‘greatest of all-time’.
Evans said: “I’d love it to be on Centre [Court], that’s it, that’s all I ask.”
He then added: “Just to get a chance to play him, I’ve played him before and it would be really nice to play… Novak, I think he won’t mind me saying, is at the latter end of his career, and I’d really go out there and give it a good go.
“Because it’s here, it’s really special for it to be in England against the greatest of all time.”
At 35 years old, Evans’ career at Wimbledon could well be coming to an end soon, so playing on Centre Court will mean a lot.
The Brit has been going through a tough period, failing to win a game in five months before the grass season started.
He also broke down in tears during an interview at the Eastbourne Open in the build-up to Wimbledon.
Evans made his one request for his meeting with Djokovic clear in his interviewBBC Only last week, he fought back the tears when speaking on-court@TennisTV XEvans was asked about that emotional press conference during his on-court interview after beating Clarke.
“The press conference happened,” he told BBC Sport. “I wasn’t expecting it to happen.
“People have been very good to me since, a lot of well-wishes, a lot of good supportive messages.
“I never stopped believing but you have doubts, any sportsperson will tell you when you’re not playing great or doing your sport great, that’s why you have a good team, that’s why you have family.
“Of course, I wanted to win, but it was more about getting out there and competing and enjoying that match against him.
“I played here last year and I was hurt, and I couldn’t really compete, and that was difficult. So today meant everything, wildcard versus wildcard, but that’s one of my top, top wins in my career.”
Evans may have a chance of an upset with Djokovic admitting he’s battling a stomach bugGettyEvans also stated that another motivation to win his game on Tuesday was to get the chance to face Djokovic.
He said: “I’m just delighted to come through it, it’s been tough, but I played really well today and it was a difficult match.
“The heat didn’t help matters, and I got through the other side. I wanted to win to get a chance against Novak, that’s the bottom line.”
And now he has that opportunity, with the 38-year-old, as Evans said, also coming to the end of his career at Wimbledon.
Evans’ chances may also have been boosted by Djokovic admitting after beating Muller that he was feeling the effects of a stomach bug before ‘miracle pills’ handed to him by his team energised him to take sets three and four comfortably.
Djokovic has won seven titles at the iconic grass-court major, sitting one behind all-time leader Roger Federer.
He will be hoping to claim just one more Grand Slam to make it a record-breaking 25.
The legend has been beaten in the last two Wimbledon finals by back-to-back champion Carlos Alcaraz.
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