KEVIN Pietersen has apologised to Great Britain’s Australian Open giant-killer Dan Evans after he failed to recognise him in a Melbourne casino earlier this week.

Evans caused another surprise on Friday by reaching the last 16 with a straight-sets victory over home favourite Bernard Tomic.

Afterwards he spoke of his disappointment at apparently being snubbed by the former England batsman when they crossed paths at the Crown Casino.

The British No3’s fame is in its infancy, but Pietersen insisted on his Twitter account that he would have struggled to recognise anyone after a day of drinking, and that it was not a deliberate snub.

Evans tweeted: “Hey @KP24 any chance I can have a picture? You refused me the other night in the crown” to which Pietersen replied: “apologies mate! I started drinking at 1pm so didn’t even know my name by the time that function started!”

Evans, who will face French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round on Sunday, said: “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.”

Evans’s performances in Melbourne have been anything but embarrassing and he will now pocket £139,000 for making the last 16, money he is unlikely to need to spend on new tennis kit.

He has been buying his own garments, 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.”

When it was suggested he might sign and sell them for a profit, Evans said: “Yeah, but they won’t go for more than £20 with my autograph on them!”

Evans’ jovial mood after his 7-5 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/3) victory over Tomic was mixed with a deep sense of sadness as he dedicated it to his former coach Julien Hoferlin, the Belgian who died of cancer last year.

After leaving the Lawn Tennis Association in 2014, Hoferlin criticised British players, including Evans, for lacking commitment but they maintained a close relationship and he played an integral role with the winning Davis Cup team in 2015.

After sealing the match, Evans could barely hold back the tears as he pointed and looked up to the sky.

“There’s been a lot on Twitter about Jules this week. I’m sure he’s watching somewhere there,” Evans said.

“Obviously everybody knows he wrote that article at the end, in which he obviously wasn’t that complimentary about me.

“I think he said tennis was an ‘interlude in my life’. At the time he was probably right. I guess when you get a bit older, you look back at those sort of things.

“I just think it’s a bit of a shame. I’m sure he sees it from somewhere but just not on the right side, you know.”

Evans was certainly a worthy winner against Tomic, his pace and variation too cute for the Australian in a pulsating contest lasting two hours and 48 minutes.

It was not without controversy, however. Evans was regularly at loggerheads with a fervent local crowd.

Evans must quickly turn his energy towards Tsonga and their mouth-watering match-up on Sunday.

“It was a goal to make the fourth round of a slam this year, so it’s satisfying,” he said.

“But I’m not looking back yet.”