Aston Villa and Wolves rivalries set aside as tennis stars team up at Queens
Aston Villa fan Dan Evans played down any talk of footballing rivalries where his doubles partnership with Wolves-loving Henry Searle is concerned.
Evans and Searle hold competing allegiances when it comes to the beautiful game - but joined forces at Queen's in the LTA's HSBC Championship.
The West Midlands duo stepped in for Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson in the capital, where they fell to a hard-fought defeat against reigning Wimbledon champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara.
Birmingham star Evans, 35, and Wolverhampton ace Searle, 23, pushed Patten and Heliovaara all the way but ultimately lost out 7-6(6) 6-1, leaving Evans to rue what might have been.
Yet while there may be no love lost where their footballing interests are concerned, Evans was quick to play down talk of any club rivalries.
“Not really," he said when asked if the topic ever comes up.
"It's great to be able to play doubles with Henry. You're going to be hearing more about him in the coming years. It's great to play with him but football doesn't really come up between us.”
He added: “It was a slow start. I didn't play my best tennis until about 4-4 in the third and that's when the match really got going. I found my game and got my chances but missed my return on breakpoint. It's something that wouldn't happen too often but it happened today and that's tennis.”
The result compounded a difficult Wednesday for Evans in West Kensington as he fell to a second-round exit in men's singles at the hands of Brandon Nakashima.
Evans - who was awarded a wildcard into the main draw at Wimbledon earlier this week - fought hard but was unable to find a way past the American, falling 7-5 7-6(4) amidst stifling conditions .
With his defeat, Evans misses out on the chance to set up a battle of the Brits against world No.6 Jack Draper in the quarter-final, with Nakashima instead set to face the world British No.1 later today.
Draper ensured his own progression into the last eight with a pulsating 3-6 6-2 7-6(5) success over Alexei Popyrin.
Draper went the distance against the Australian but held his nerve to dispatch his opponent with a superb ace that sent the home crowd in W14 on it feet.
