Dan Evans on the brink of returning to Top 100 following suspension

Ranked No. 148 coming into the week, Britain's Dan Evans is almost back in the Top 100 after his finals appearance at Delray Beach as a qualifier.

The 28-year-old wasn't even playing at this time a year ago, serving a one-year suspension for testing positive for cocaine.

“You’ve got to stay resilient in the sport. It’s so up and down. Obviously, my down was for my own wrongdoing,” said Evans. “It can be injuries—I’d say mine was a mental injury—so yeah, stay resilient and keep believing because I’d never imagine I’m back, close to the Top 100, in such a small amount of time from coming back.”

Evans qualified for the tournament, defeating defending champion Frances Tiafoe in the first round and top-seeded John Isner in the semifinals. Then, he had three match points before falling to Radu Albot in a final-set tiebreaker in the final.

The former No. 41 was disappointed with the defeat despite having won six matches to get to the final.

"I’ve played some good quality matches, met some good players, but we all want to win," he said.

But he moves up 43 spots to No. 105 with his run at Delray Beach, and is just a handful of points away from getting back to the Top 100 in the rankings. In addition, he has no points to defend for more than two months because of his suspension, and has had a good beginning to the season.

Before Delray Beach, Evans reached the final of the Quimper challenger, and also qualified for the Australian Open, reaching the second round.

Evans is not tall, but has a good return, a one-handed backhand, and mixes up his play. The experienced David Felgate coaches him.

Though his win against Isner was the biggest of his comeback, Evans says he is concentrating more on improving his own level.

"I'm just playing every match. It's not about beating John [Isner], it's not about beating [Andreas] Seppi," he said. "I'm just trying to focus on myself...I'm playing pretty good, so I think I'm difficult to play."

Evans next plays the ATP $150,000 challenger at Indian Wells, which offers 75 points to the winner.

ATP/WTA Acapulco

• Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Juan Martin del Potro and Sloane Stephens headline the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Watch live coverage on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Monday, 2/25 at 5:00 pm ET.

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