Evans ‘hated himself’ during year-long ban

DAN Evans has admitted that he hated himself during his year-long drugs ban.

Britain’s number one tennis player, who lives in Cheltenham, has opened up about the dark period in his life – and admitted he was disgusted with what he did.

Evans’ career hit a nadir in 2017 when he was suspended for a year after testing positive for cocaine. He has turned things around since his return to the game and currently sits at a career-high 28 in the rankings – which have been frozen due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 30-year-old has sought the help of a sports psychologist, who described the tennis player as “one of the angriest people” he had spoken to.

“You still reflect on it some days, and think, ‘That was stupid’,” Evans said about his failed drugs test on the My Sporting Mind podcast. “But I don’t look back and hate myself like I did during the ban.

“When I first sat down with the sports psychologist he said I was probably one of the angriest people he had ever spoken to.

“I left social media when it happened. I was worried what my peers would think, and the people watching. But that went away quick. All the players were good. No one ever said anything to me in a bad way.”

Evans found difficulty on his return to the tour as the All England Lawn and Tennis Club did not give him a wild card into Wimbledon, which saw him have to enter a pre-qualifying event played on school courts.

That fuelled some of the anger that he built up.

“Coming back, I had a few issues with trying to get back to play and getting into tournaments, and I wasn’t getting the easiest of help from the people I had helped before,” he added.

“That’s where the anger came from. It was difficult. But we all sat down and got it out of the way. Luckily I got back on court and that was that.”

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