Charles Broom makes it worth the wait to beat Dan Evans

By James Reid

Charles Broom made it worth the wait as he beat compatriot Dan Evans to advance to the semi-finals of the LTA’s Rothesay Open in Nottingham.

Broom got past the British No.3 3-6 6-3 6-2 to set up another all-British encounter against Billy Harris for a place in the final.

Harris continued his impressive run with victory over Mikhail Kukushkin, after the Kazhak retired injured in the second set, with Harris one set up.

The match-up guarantees home representation in the final of the men's singles, with fellow Brit Jacob Fearnley set to take on Italy’s Mattia Bellucci in the other semi-final.

Broom was forced to fight for his place in the final four, with rain first heavily delaying play and forcing the match inside.

The experienced Evans, 34, then took the first before Broom clawed his way back into the contest before winning the decider.

St Albans star Broom, 26, admitted it took him a while to get into his stride with all the stoppages but soon found a winning groove.

He said: “It was tricky coming inside, waiting around for a long time so it took a bit of time to get used to the conditions.

“The way that he [Evans] plays is obviously very tricky so I felt like I was finding my range a bit in the first set and then started feeling good towards the end of the first.

“The second and third I carried it on and I’m really happy to get through.

“So far it has been a great week. I’ve got another great match tomorrow against Billy [Harris], it’s great that Brits are doing well and I look forward to having a good battle against him.”

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