British tennis star Dan Evans fumed at the Wimbledon officials and said that he was “not willing” to continue playing in his first-round tie with Alejandro Tabilo.
Evans had lost the first set 6-3 and the pair were tied 3-3 in the second when he complained about the damp conditions on the grass. Rain had fallen across several spells, ensuring that the Centre Court roof was closed throughout all three of its matches, but outside courts such as where Evans was playing didn’t have that luxury.
“I’ve already been hurt on a wet court this season, I’m not willing to do it again,” Evans said to the Court 12 umpire between points as he sat down, reluctant to continue playing.
He similarly fumed at the court supervisor, who he bluntly told: “You don’t care about the players.”
Evans drew level with Tabilo at 3-3 before play was suspended on the court amid Evans’ concerns of re-injuring his knee on the slippery surface.
Having started at 7.45pm, Evans’ clash was among several to be suspended including Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Thanasi Kokkinakis, David Goffin vs Tomas Machac and Lucas Pouille vs Laslo Djere.
Evans had continued to complain about the lack of light late into the evening and finally got his wish when play was suspended, with the pair set to resume play on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old wanted to avoid another knee injury, having been spotted with heavy strapping at SW19. He had a scare at Queen’s Club when suffering a nasty fall, only for scans to reveal a strain rather than lasting damage.
Evans is due to play at the Olympics after Wimbledon, where he has entered with Andy Murray, though his partner’s participation is in doubt after pulling out of the summer Slam’s singles competition.
Evans himself has admitted to considering his future and does not want a wildcard to play at Wimbledon in the future, but his 2024 campaign will at the very least go into a second day after successfully arguing for his first-round tie to be suspended.
“I don’t want to be coming back here asking for a wild card,” Evans told The Independent going into Wimbledon. “You can remind me of that if I need one next year.
“I’ve definitely thought about it. It’s not an easy thought but, when you’re not good enough, I think that’s time to let it all go.
“When you get a bit older I think there’s a lot more you think about. When I was younger people told me that as well, when you get older different things come into play, and I probably told them, ‘yeah, it won’t be me’. But it is. If you’re not winning enough matches, that’s the stark reality of sport.”
