In their Friday night quarterfinal matchup in Montreal, Tommy Paul was playing Daniel Evans off the court. The dependable Briton persevered, however, and won by scores of 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach his second ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in a row.
Evans took advantage of the smallest of gaps in sets two and three to win both by a single break after Paul earlier in the match filled up the highlight reel with his quickness and potent ground game. The 32-year-old took the lead right away in the decisive set and, more importantly, managed to make a vital escape at 15/40 to bring the match's score to 5-3. Evans skillfully backed up solid serving in the crucial moments after watching a match point go begging spectacularly on return and absorbing one final backhand pass on serve from Paul.
Evans rode on his luck during his 4-3 service game in the decisive set as Paul clipped the tape on a mid-court forehand, the kind of ball he pounced on for the majority of the two hours and 17 minutes-long match. The remaining distance was handled by the World No. 39, who then raced to the victory.