The GB tennis star about living with his team-mate and unfolded it

Fun-loving Dan Evans hopes his mischievous relationship with rowdy flatmate Jack Draper can propel him to a medal at the Olympics. The 34-year-old Birmingham tennis ace battled Tunisian Moez Echargui in a hard-fought three-set battle in Paris on Sunday.

Away from the clay at Roland-Garros, Evans shares a flat with British team-mate Draper – who also advanced to his first match on tour – a player 12 years his junior, who has kept him busy as the Games begin. Evans raised the bar on life with top-ranked British no. 1 and, after deciding to skip a rain-soaked opening ceremony on the Seine, says there is never a dull moment as he looks to complete a memorable Olympic debut in France.

“We’re kind of tricked into a flat – we all have our own rooms, which is quite lucky,” said Evans, who also played in the men’s doubles with Andy Murray last night. I’ve seen a bit of Jack – he can follow him at odd times.

“I’m up early but he wants to have a bloody fight at 11pm when we’re trying to wind down! He storms off when he’s been in bed for four hours and wakes up.

“I didn’t go to the opening ceremony – and I’m getting Jack to shut it down as they’ve all been rained out all night. This is an example, Jack came in at 11pm saying it was the best night of his life. No one ever did. said it was the best night of their lives when it rained all night!

Evans has endured a difficult season and crashed out of Wimbledon at the first hurdle earlier this year. But he came alive in Paris to overcome minnow Echargui, 31, 6-4 2-6 6-4. Evans survived a minor injury in the second set but held himself together to safely sail into the next round.

And the West Midlands star, who has been struggling with a knee problem since slipping at Queen’s this summer, said: “It’s getting there – I’m moving well again and the strength around it (is building). It was a bit rough in the end, but it was good to get through that match.

“It’s another game tonight (with Andy) which is much more important. I’ll be fine tonight – but there’s more tomorrow if there’s two games on the schedule, hopefully that might be a bit of a problem.”

Watch every moment of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games live only on Discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympic Games.