“Not Good Enough” Dan Evans beats rival Tomic.

The British number three Dan Evans proved a particularly harsh critic wrong, by beating Benard Tomic yesterday at the US Open and the critic couldn’t have been closer to the Australian number one. Last year in Miami Tomic’s father John, told Evans that he was not even good enough to practice with the Australian.

The British number three won their second-round encounter by three sets to one and record the best win of his career, not only making Tomic’s father eat his words but highlighted the hard work and practice he has put into improving his game.

Post match, Evans recalled Tomic’s fathers comments when he was in Miami for qualifiers.

"I was there playing qualifiers," said Evans, 23. "His dad said I wasn't good enough to practise with him."

He added: "We went to practise, it was all booked, I got to the practice hut. His dad said: 'No, no, he's a qualifier, I'm not hitting with you'.

"So it was one of those. A bit embarrassing, but hey."

Tomic could do nothing to halt the rampant Evans after winning the first set, and the man from Birmingham agreed afterwards that it was the best win of his career:

"That's probably the best I've had to fight back," said the world number 179. "In the Davis Cup, I've always been pretty much up when I've won the matches."

Evans reward for reaching the third round of the Grand Slam for the first time,  is a guaranteed $60,000 and a draw against 19th seed, the Spaniard Tommy Rebredo.

Five-time US Open champion Rodger Federer could be next on the horizon if Evan’s manages to make it through to the fourth round. Federer himself was not ‘too good’ for Evan’s when he chose to practice with him before the match on Thursday

"It was amazing to hit with someone so good," said Evans. "I really enjoyed it, actually had a really good hit.

"It was a very good experience. He's a nice guy, was interested in what I did. It was good."

Tomic, ranked 52nd, said after the match "It shows you anybody can play in the top 250, a lot of guys can play. It's just a matter of consistency. The guys in the top 100 and top 50 are more consistent.

"He's playing well for the first time. This is his best result. He played very well against Kei. I knew if he beat Kei it was going to be difficult.

"I think I started well but just lost the concentration, lost my energy level. I couldn't execute my shots, go after my shots, and from then he took over."

Dan Evans magnificent rise in performance levels and subsequent victories, highlight the improvements that can be made with hard work and practice. Some may even argue Tomic’s fathers comments could have acted as the catalyst behind these improvement.