Britain’s giant-killer Dan Evans caused another Australian Open surprise by reaching the last 16 yesterday, but he is unlikely to be offering Kevin Pietersen tickets any time soon.

Evans followed up his shock victory over Marin Cilic on Wednesday by beating world No 27 Bernard Tomic 7-5 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3) to reach his first-ever grand slam fourth round.

He will now set about inflicting another upset against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga tomorrow, the 12th seed from France, who he used watch on television as a youngster.

But things didn’t go so smoothly for Evans when Pietersen allegedly snubbed the 26-year-old’s request for a photo at Melbourne’s Crown Casino earlier this week.

Speaking after his latest triumph, Evans said, smiling: “Quite funny, isn’t it? How things work out.

“He was my favourite cricketer until that point, genuinely was, but there was some serious rage for about 20 minutes after that happened. There was some serious rage.

“It was a bad moment that was. It was so embarrassing, as well. He didn’t even just say no. He handed me off. I was nowhere near him either. Oh God, it was really embarrassing.”

Asked how he might respond if Pietersen requested a ticket to his next match, Evans said: “He’s such a celebrity now, he doesn’t need to ask me for tickets.”

Britain has two players in the last 16 of the singles in Melbourne for the first time since Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski made it in 2001. Andy Murray had earlier beaten Sam Querrey in straight sets.

Evans will now pocket £139,000 for making the fourth round, money he is unlikely to need to spend on new tennis kit.

The British number three has been wearing gear he had to buy himself, including £13 T-shirts, after he was dropped by Nike at the end of last year.

“The shirt I actually put on the second time today had been washed. I thought it was a new one but it had shrunk a bit,” Evans said.

“The company actually sent quite a lot to the locker room today. That was nice of them. There was no logo so that was really nice of them as well. I’ve got quite a few now and they were free.”

We need your support to keep running. If you like what you read please donate by clicking here