LONDON: On Wednesday Dan Evans will learn if he has been granted a wildcard for the upcoming Wimbledon Championships.
The British player has played at SW19 on four previous occasions, but the mood surrounding him this year is somewhat different. In April Evans returned to the tour after serving a year-long doping ban. During the 2017 Barcelona Open he tested positive for cocaine. Cutting short a season where he reached his first ATP final and peaked at a ranking high of 41st in the world.
“It’s a shocking drug, and it’s not just in sport – it’s terrible in life. It’s a life-ruiner,” Evans said earlier this year.
“It’s like drink-driving – everyone knows you shouldn’t drink-drive. I took it. I knew beforehand I shouldn’t have. It’s illegal for one, never mind me being a sportsman.”
The served ban has reignited a fierce debate about awarding wildcard’s to those convicted of breaking anti-doping rules. A topic that reached the main stage in 2017 during Maria Sharapova’s comeback. The Russian former world No.1 was banned for 15-months after testing positive for meldonium. One of those critical of the passes given to Sharapova was Andy Murray, who maintains the same stance in Evans’ case.
“I was pretty clear last year when I was asked about the Sharapova situation, how I felt about it.” He stated.
“It’s a difficult one. He played extremely well the last few weeks in terms of his level and stuff. He deserves it. Whether or not it’s the right message to be sending, I don’t know, but then some would say he’s obviously served his time and should be given a second chance.”
Since his return, the 28-year-old Birmingham based player has illustrated his talent on the tour. Reaching the semifinals of the Surbiton Challenger as a qualifier before finishing runner-up to Alex de Minaur at the Nottingham Open. Players he has scored wins over include Sergiy Stakhovsky, Marcel Granollers and Thomas Fabbiano.
“I haven’t read anything or done any, you know, spoke to anyone about it.” Evans responded when questioned about the wildcard debate.
“If I’m playing prequallies, it’s still an opportunity to get into the tournament. If someone had said I’d be playing prequallies a year ago, I’d have taken it. It’s fine by me if I’m playing in that tournament.”
Like many other British players, Kyle Edmund’s first taste of grand slam tennis came at the courtesy of a Wimbledon wildcard. The world No.17 took a somewhat diplomatic approach when discussing his fellow competitor. Refusing to speak about the debate, but acknowledging Evans’ progress within recent weeks.
“In terms of Evo coming back, he’s won a lot of matches, having a year out and coming back.” Edmund said following his win over Ryan Harrison at Queen’s.
“He’s pretty much got the ball rolling very quickly and got his ranking pretty high up there in a short space of time. So him coming back, he’s done very well.”
The list of Wimbledon wildcards will be announced at 10am (GMT) Wednesday morning.
