DAN EVANS VOWS TO REBUILD HIS CAREER AFTER THE BAN

Dan Evans voiced his determination to rebuild his career after being handed a one-year ban following a positive test for cocaine.

The International Tennis Federation announced the length of Evans’ suspension on Tuesday, nearly six months after he failed the test at the Barcelona Open in April.

The ban has been backdated, meaning Evans will be eligible to play again on April 24 next year.

The 27-year-old said in a comment via his agent: «Following the announcement made from the ITF today, I want to thank everyone who has supported me throughout this difficult period.

«I am determined to return to the sport I love and compete at the level I know I can in the not too distant future.»

Evans was informed of the positive test in June and revealed the news at an emotional press conference.

He admitted taking co- caine, telling the ITF, which oversees the Tennis AntiDoping Programme, that he had done so on April 20.

The drug is only banned in competition and Evans denied taking it during the tournament, saying it had got into his system via permitted medication that he had stored in the same pocket of his washbag in which he had previously kept the cocaine.

Evans› expert, Dr Pascal Kintz, argued the very small amount of the drug present in Evans› test was consistent with inadvertent contamination, and that was accepted by the ITF.