Evans in ‘debt’ to LTA for wildcard
DAN Evans has said he will be forever indebted to the LTA for giving him a wildcard to Queen’s, admitting he put the organisers in a ‘terribly awkward’ position.
The 28-year-old, who is through to the final of the Nottingham Open, said he was delighted to have the opportunity to play a top-class event again just two months after returning from a drugs ban.
And he acknowledged the conundrum facing British tennis bosses in knowing whether to publicly support him after testing positive for cocaine.
‘There will still be people who don’t think it’s the right decision,’ he said. ‘But they [the LTA] are sort of damned if they did, damned if they don’t, aren’t they?’
Evans, the former British No 2, enjoyed his 16th win out of 19 matches since his comeback, defeating world No 134 Marcel Granollers 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. He was forced to overcome a strong serve-andvolley game from Granollers and was pleased with how he regrouped after losing the first set. ‘I’m just really happy with that match to be honest, that’s a real good match to win,’ he said. ‘I can take some good stuff away from that.’ Evans will move up to 340 in the world after his semi-final win, and would move within the top 300 if he beats rising Australian star Alex de Minaur in the final today. The difficulty facing the LTA regarding wildcards is not lost on Evans, who will play world No 25 Adrian Mannarino in the first round at Queen’s. ‘I am delighted,’ he said. ‘Obviously I put people in a terribly awkward position and I can only say thank you to those people who have backed my corner to give me an equal chance to get that wildcard. I will be forever indebted to them for that.’