Dan Evans takes confidence from Roger Federer match at Australian Open

Evans reached the fourth round in Melbourne in 2017

Dan Evans says impressing against Roger Federer at the Australian Open - a year after he thought he would never play again - has provided confidence he can reignite his career after a drugs ban.

Evans' performance was praised by Federer after he pushed the Swiss great in a 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 defeat.

The former world number 41 was "in a bad place" this time last year after testing positive for cocaine.

"Now I have to do it in the tournaments I'm expected to win," said the Briton.

"I need to get my ranking points to get into the top 100. That's when I need to put that sort of level back on the court.

"That's the real test for me - it's not coming here to lose six, six and four to Federer."

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Evans was ranked 50th in the world when he failed a drugs test after taking cocaine out of competition, leading to a 12-month ban that threatened to wreck his career.

The 28-year-old returned to the sport last April without a world ranking and has since climbed back up to 189th.

After a first-round exit at an ATP Challenger event a fortnight ago, Evans fought through qualifying to make the Australian Open - his first Grand Slam since returning from the suspension.

Victory over Japan's Tatsuma Ito in round one pitted him against 20-time Grand Slam winner Federer, and Evans showed he has the ability to compete with the best in an entertaining match on Melbourne Park's Rod Laver Arena.

Federer, the defending champion who has won the men's title a joint-record six times, said facing the British number four was "like playing in a mirror a little bit".

But Evans played down Federer's words.

"I think he meant in game style rather than level," he said. "There are similarities but he obviously does a lot of things better than me.

"It's a lot easier to play against him, to play well against someone who's so good. There's not as much pressure.

"I was playing the same way I would in any tournament, but here it's a great atmosphere, a great arena - it's way easier than playing in front of hardly any people.

"It's not hard to get up for those matches. I've struggled to get up for the match in Playford [the Challenger event in Australia] and stuff like that - it's been difficult.

"This week has obviously given me a lot of confidence to try to go to those events now and put the tennis on the court."

Evans said he wanted to return to the top 100 to ensure direct entry to the main draw at Wimbledon.

The All England Club refused to give him a wildcard for last year's tournament "on principle" after his drugs misdemeanour.

"I'd rather not be in that conversation, asking for my own wildcard," Evans said. "I'd rather be there with my own ranking.

"It would be a lot easier for a lot of people and would mean I've won a lot of matches."

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