Elite escapades embolden Evans

Britain's Dan Evans took a big dose of self-belief from his run to the Australian Open fourth round and said playing against the best in the world convinced him he belongs among them.

The Birmingham-born 26-year-old's Melbourne Park campaign ended against French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday when Evans took the first set but ran out of steam to crash out 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 after nearly three hours.

It brought to a close two weeks that saw him reach his first ATP final at the Sydney International and chase former US Open champion Marin Cilic and home hope Bernard Tomic out of the year's first Grand Slam.