I’ll never take cocaine again after the pain I’ve caused
DAN EVANS ON HIS DRUGS BAN
‘It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done — but it might turn out to be a blessing’
DAN EVANS was unequivocal: ‘If you saw the ruins it left behind just failing a drugs test, what that does to people, you’d be pretty confident I won’t take that drug again.’
So spoke Evans yesterday as he resurfaced following a backdated year’s ban for his positive cocaine test ahead of his return to the court this weekend at the Glasgow Challenger.
Months of watching daytime TV at the flat he shares with his girlfriend in Cheltenham do not seem to have dulled the senses of the former world No 41, whose bad-boy reputation long preceded the doping sample he provided at the Barcelona Open 12 months ago.
Switching frequently from cheeky chappie mode to a more serious demeanour, he gave an expansive summary of what has happened since his confession at a west London hotel during the Queen’s tournament last summer.
Recalling the day when he had to tell those closest to him, he said: ‘It’s just a terrible conversation, whoever it’s with. There are many people who support you, even if it’s sending a text at the end of the match or staying up when you’re playing in America and are knackered for work the next day.
‘The family’s the obvious one but all the other people, the embarrassment you put your girlfriend’s mum through, her parents — that’s not what they want their daughter around is it? And then you’ve got your mum or your sister at work. It’s not a situation I hope anyone will be in again.
‘It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done. It’s a shocking thing to do, it’s let down many people. Not just that, it brought unwanted press to tennis. God knows what some of the greats of the game thought when that sort of thing comes into the headlines.’
Evans, 27, was reluctant to go into details of the exact circumstances of where he took the drug, but it is understood it followed the funeral of a close friend’s mother in his native Birmingham.
‘It happened — it’s the social world now isn’t? It’s not a good thing. It’s a shocking drug and it’s not just in sport, it’s just terrible in life, it’s a life-ruiner.
‘I took it. I knew I shouldn’t have. It’s illegal, for one, never mind for a sportsman. You’d be stupid if you didn’t know you should not be doing it.’
He would not be drawn on whether this was an isolated incident, but emphasised it was no way related to enhancing performance.
‘I’m not going to be answering questions about if it was a one- off or not,’ he said. ‘I’ve never failed a drugs test before. I took it out of competition, that’s all I can say. Luckily I was never in the position where I needed to get help for that drug. But I won’t ever take it again.’
Evans has been given a wildcard into the qualifying event at the Scotstoun Leisure Centre, and was waiting last night to hear who his first opponent will be.
Whoever it is might find him a little rusty, as Evans did not pick up a racket from last summer until February 24.
‘I love playing tennis so at the start I was heartbroken not to be playing,’ he said. ‘There isn’t that much you can do in the day when other people are working. I was saying to my girlfriend how long a working day is — nine-tofive is a long, long time. Daytime TV is not good, I don’t know what I watched, they rolled into one. I was probably the worst boyfriend there has ever been for nine months.
‘It wasn’t easy, there are some terrible moments in those nine months. It was painful in a way, watching tennis, seeing all the other things unfold.’
He looks in decent, if not absolutely pristine shape, but he is unsure how his comeback will unfold.
‘I had doubts every day and I still have doubts now. There will be doubts until there are two digits next to my name (in ranking terms).
‘People won’t fear me any more. I have to earn that respect again. But it also feels exciting as well, and you never know, I might sit here in a year or two years and it might have been a blessing in disguise to sort all my stuff out.’