HOYT’S HARD LUCK
WHY THE WELSH YOUNGSTER WILL HAVE TO PUT HIS WIMBLEDON DREAM ON HOLD FOR ANOTHER YEAR
EVAN Hoyt must be wondering how many black cats have crossed his path over the last few years.
In 2011, at the age of 16, Hoyt was being talked about as the next big thing in British tennis, the Welsh answer to Andy Murray. That was the year when the Llanelli teenager starred in the first ever Great Britain team to win the junior Davis Cup, defeating France in the final.
It wasn’t just fans of British tennis and the sporting press who thought highly of him. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, to name just two on the professional tour, actively sought Hoyt out to join them in practice sessions. That doesn’t happen to any junior. Even in practice the greats of the game expect to be pushed hard.
And then the black cats began showing up. In 2013 Hoyt’s plans to study and play tennis at university in the USA were dashed by red tape.
The American college system is regarded within tennis circles as the perfect way for young players to bridge the gulf between the junior tour and main professional circuit, the facilities and work ethic stateside being superior to that found in most other countries including the UK.
However, all players attending American universities have to abide by an amateur code rigidly enforced by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the organisation which oversees sports programmes at colleges in the USA and Canada.
When Hoyt came clean about a brief period during which he’d been represented by the sports management agency IMG, the NCAA ruled him ineligible to attend an American university.
In 2014 a stress fracture in his back saw him sidelined from the game for eight months. Hoyt eventually returned to competing, in effect having to start at the bottom and work his way up through the rankings.
But then he began to be dogged by shoulder problems. In the meantime his good friend and former junior Davis Cup teammate Kyle Edmund emerged to become the new darling of British tennis.
Now restored to something like full fitness, Hoyt is back on court albeit at the likes of the recent Penarth tournament rather than the French Open.
Last week he was involved in the play-offs among British players for wild cards into the qualifying event for Wimbledon. Even then Hoyt drew the short straw, being paired against Dan Evans in the first round.
Banned from the game for a year for testing positive for cocaine use and then con- troversially denied a wild card directly into the Wimbledon main draw, Evans is on the comeback and currently playing some of the best tennis of his life.
Hoyt put up a good fight but lost in straight sets. “It punishes everyone,” declared none other than Sue Barker of making Evans go through the qualifying rounds, penalising the likes of Hoyt in the process. And she had a point.
“The body’s fine right now,” said Hoyt prior to the Wimbledon wild card play-offs. “It’s been a while but I’m trying to stay positive and work hard and hopefully things will start to come together.
“For a little while I did struggle with everything, but I’m feeling good at the moment so fingers crossed.”
“Trying to make the transition from juniors to seniors is difficult enough, but then to get hammered by injuries means he has never had a clear enough run for us to gauge how good he really is,” says Peter Drew, Chief Executive of Tennis Wales, the sport’s governing body west of the Marches.
“That said, Evan is still our best player here in Wales. And it’s easy to forget he’s still young. If he can stay free of injuries then there’s no reason why he can’t get a run going and climb back up the rankings. Time is on his side.
“He’s a nice guy and he works hard. If anyone deserves a break, then it’s him.”