Daniel Evans has been mopping up nicely at the Delray Beach ATP tournament going against the odds with some spectacular performances that if you didn't know him better you would assume are from a defending Delray champion.

After knocking defending champion out Francis Tiafoe in the first round, he went through a South African wild card in no time before defeating Andreas Seppi in similar fashion yesterday. Again against Seppi, his net game was on song, his backhand slice as both of a defensive tool and an attacking one whilst approaching the net allowed him to mix it up enough to never allow Seppi to get into any kind of groove from the back.

Evans ability to vary his game so much enabled him to charge to a 5-1 lead against Seppi in the first set and then in the second defend an early threat of a break from Seppi that could have meant a third set shootout. I had Evans down at 1.80 to win with a 2% stake. Currently I have ridden the Evans train on the past 3 matches clearing up. The train may stop tonight as he faces his most formidable opponent since returning from a one year ban - Big John Isner in the Semi's and whilst Evans has a chance to overcome the power player, Isner's serving will be a brick wall the Brit will have to climb over rather than go through . Evan's is still 2.75 to win tonight so I am taking those odds with a 1% stake as he is capable of producing perhaps his biggest win of his career.

Just before Evans received a ban for testing positive for drugs he had reached his first ever ATP final in Sydney in 2017. The ban I think did him the world of good as it put his career into perspective and made him realise just what he possesses as a player. He has the talent and skill to win ATP 250, 500 and perhaps a Masters if he remains focused and doesn't get side tracked again. To many that may seem far fetched but I have been following him for 5 years now and I know his game pretty well, he is definitely the best British tennis player at the moment and looks far beyond the player that Kyle Edmund represents. Most importantly he has an excellent net game, a skill that is lacking in the men's game right now and one he can capitalise on.

The fact Evans prefers to block his returns of serve back and is good off the back-wing with the slice as a defensive weapon could pay dividends tonight against Isner's huge serve. Evans has been returning excellently all week but he's going to need to be focused even more so when it comes to Isner who has been serving an average of 22 aces per match at Delray. Expect Isner to go big on his forehand but tire quickly if Evans gets him involved in some longer rallies on his service game. Isner will definitely struggle with Evans low slicing of the ball being so tall, getting down low to the ball will be his weakness. Isner will have to rely solely on his serve to win this one, so if that is slightly off it could allow Evans to win over 3 sets.

Isner's Questionable Start to 2019

Isner has yet to face any stern opposition in Florida having been drawn against some rather weak opponents. Even Mannarino (8th seed) in the previous round is hardly the most dogged of opponents to face, he certainly has a poor defense and ineffective return game. Before Delray the Frenchman had suffered six first round tournament exits.

Isner's form in 2019 prior to Delray has seen him loose twice to fellow American Reilly Opelka including at the Australian Open. Opelka is one of two players taller than Isner on tour, standing at 6ft 11 inches tall, 1 inch taller than Isner. I wouldn't count his victories over Isner as any sort of indicator that Evans could produce the same. Again Opelka like Isner is all about his serve and he can pretty much lean on that for most of his victories with ease. We can see that Isner did also loose to Taylor Fritz in Auckland in two tight tie breaks, but then again Fritz is also a power server but atleast not on the level of Isner. So with Evans standing at just 5ft 9inches tall he's definitely going to need to have an optimal return game tomorrow to claim victory.

Whether Isner has lost to big or small players of late he still won't be going into this match full of confidence given four early round exits in his previous 5 tournaments excluding the ATP finals where he also lost all of his matches. In which case Evans can take encouragement that Big John has been looking wobbly of late and he could catch him cold once again here. A secondary factor to consider is that Evans knows if he can overcome Isner he has a huge chance of winning his first ever ATP Tour Title given the quality of the other two left - McKenzie and Albot - he will be hungry for victory even more so given his chances in the final. Whilst McKenzie and Albot have done well to get so far, they represent no way the threat posed by Isner to Evans. If Evans wins tonight he will know the title is his to lose in the final.

This will be Evans sixth match of the tournament having come through two qualifier rounds too!

Prediction: Evans at 2.75 to Win