Tennis-Briton Evans stays hot to down Australian Tomic

* Briton Evans beats Tomic in three sets * Reaches last 16 of grand slam for first time * Next faces Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Adds detail, quotes) By Nick Mulvenney MELBOURNE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Dan Evans continued his extraordinary run at the Australian Open with a thrilling 7-5 7-6(2) 7-6(3) victory over Bernard Tomic on Friday to give Britain two men in the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the first time in 16 years. The 26-year-old, who upset seventh seed Marin Cilic in the second round, prevailed after two hours 48 minutes in a highly-charged atmosphere on Hisense Arena to end Australia's interest in the men's singles draw. Evans only put together his first run of three consecutive wins at tour level when he reached the Sydney International final last week and matched that feat by simply refusing to take a backward step for anyone. Ranked in the high 700s a couple of years ago but heading for the top 50 after reaching the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time, Evans was inspired from the moment he stepped on court until Tomic hit a forehand long to end the match. "I should say thank you to the crowd, it was a great atmosphere and it made the match way better," said Evans. "It was three tight sets and it could've gone either way. I was just focusing on the end goal the whole time." The contrast between the pedigree of the players could not have been more stark. Tomic has been heralded as a future grand slam champion from his early teens and his father and coach John in 2012 once deemed Evans unfit even for a training knock. Evans played in self-purchased T-shirts and shorts after losing his clothing contract, looking more like one of the thousands of British backpackers who descend on Australia each year than a professional athlete. His play, however, showed there was no doubt he was. He went for everything, harried the 24-year-old Australian relentlessly, came in repeatedly to win 40 of 51 points at the net and fired 58 winners to the world number 27's 50. NO AVAIL The home crowd, desperate for a man to support in week two and relishing as always an Anglo-Australian rivalry, cheered Tomic's every point and booed the Briton, but to no avail. Evans complained about a spectator coughing to try and disrupt his serve and, after the umpire refused to have him ejected, hurled a mouthful of abuse at the offending fan when he won the game. When the elements threatened to disrupt his momentum with rain starting to fall on the court late in the third set, Evans flat out refused to play on and insisted the stadium roof be closed. Tomic happily agreed to the break hoping it would disrupt the Briton but Evans ran away with the tiebreaker to set up a meeting with France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. "It was an amazing match to be a part of," Tomic said. "He's just on fire. He's playing well. He's playing with not a lot to lose. I have to give full credit to him because he deserved to win this match." World number one Andy Murray's 6-4 6-2 6-4 win over Sam Querrey preceded Evans's match on the same court, ensuring a double British presence in the fourth round for the first time since Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski in 2001. "It was a goal to make the fourth round of a slam this year," added Evans. "It's satisfying. But I'm not looking back yet. We've got another match on Sunday." (Editing by Ed Osmond)