Dan Evans calls Wimbledon farewell, but won’t fade

Dan Evans’ – Dan Evans has announced he will retire after this year’s grass-court season, after Wimbledon’s warm-up tournament at Queen’s declined to give him a singles wild card. The British player, who has battled injury and missed much of the past year, now has a double

When Dan Evans walked into the grass-court build-up and asked for a chance at Queen’s. the answer came back with a clear sting: no wild card. Evans had already decided his career would end at Wimbledon after this year’s grass-court season. and his reaction—delivered in typical. outspoken fashion—was blunt.

“It would have been a classy gesture to give me a wild card, but obviously that was lacking on this occasion,” Evans told British newspapers over the weekend. The British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which owns and operates the event, declined to comment.

Evans’ tournament schedule and his body haven’t been cooperating. He has barely played for 10 months because of injury, and he lost to Daniel Jade, the then world No. 1447, in French Open qualifying last month. Since then. he has failed to qualify for the Ilkley Challenger. an event below the ATP Tour. and the HSBC Championships.

So Wimbledon became the last chapter—and the last surprise. On Tuesday. the All England Club announced that Evans had been awarded a doubles wild card for Wimbledon. after which he will retire. His doubles partner will be Henry Searle, the 20-year-old British world No. 354. Evans said he had coached Searle on an informal basis during his rehabilitation from injury. Evans has not received a singles wild card.

In the Tennis Podcast interview published Wednesday. Evans—36 years old—spoke at length about what he believes is wrong in British tennis. and what he wants to do with his own future once he’s finished competing. He said that in retirement, he would like to coach, backing himself to add value to British tennis.

“Where a lot of them (British players) should be is (top) 100. I think the coaching in this country now for a few years has been not going in the right direction,” Evans said during the interview.

He pointed to the current men’s and women’s scenes through names and rankings: there is one British player in the men’s top 100—Cameron Norrie—and four in the women’s: Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal, Katie Boulter and Fran Jones.

Evans then tied his frustration to the reality of where coaching careers pay off. “Obviously there’s other reasons — club coaching, you can earn more money. Coaching players at that ranking, you don’t earn great money, let’s be honest. You have to do it for the love and trying to get them there. So I just think, there’s things I’ve learned along the way which could help,” he said.

His argument kept returning to the basics. When asked why players wear all-white at Wimbledon, the topic shifted quickly back to how to get better. “Yeah, I don’t think it’s that complicated to get to the top 100,” Evans said. “Hard work, keep your game style, a lot of practice. If you want to get better at something, you have to practice that sport. It’s pretty simple… It is pretty simple. if you want to get to a certain level — is my opinion on the game.”.

He also dismissed the idea that tennis development requires constant monitoring and data. “I didn’t look at one piece of data in my whole career. Never wore a heart-rate monitor, neither wore any of it, and I did alright. It’s really not that complicated. You can make it complicated, but you can make it pretty simple as well.”.

Evans went further when he compared today’s coaching to the standards he knew earlier. He said, “the coaches are not of that caliber anymore in those positions, dare I say it, but that’s just a fact.”

The LTA pushed back in a brief email response: “We provide coaches and players with high-quality services and training facilities to ensure they can get the best out of their game.”

The Wimbledon ending might feel sudden, but Evans’ career has never been quiet. From the time he was 18, there has been collision with authority. He had his funding removed by the LTA after going out drinking the night before playing in the Wimbledon boys’ doubles event. Evans said during the interview that it “all helped me, to be honest.”.

Later came the ban. Evans was banned from professional tennis for a year after testing positive for cocaine in 2017. In the Tennis Podcast interview. he described the pain of having to tell his parents about the “catastrophic mistake” he had made. at a time when he had climbed into the world’s top 50.

His path to pro tennis also doesn’t match the stereotype people sometimes project onto British players. He is the son of an electrician and nurse with no tennis background in the family, and he was Birmingham-born.

On court, his game was unconventional from the start. He stands at only 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) and plays with a single-handed backhand. For much of his career, he based his tennis on slice and feel, using those skills to trouble opponents who had the raw power advantage.

His run in the Slams came with moments that still feel like they belong to a player who was always one swing away from a breakthrough. He reached the fourth round of both the Australian Open and the U.S. Open. At the 2016 U.S. Open, he held match point against Stan Wawrinka, the eventual champion, in the third round before losing.

Then there was the win that cracked open a larger spotlight. Five years later, Evans beat the world No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters. After that match. Evans said Djokovic keeping him waiting at the start of the match got him “a little extra fired-up.” He added. during his interview with the Tennis Podcast. that it’s one of his “pet peeves” with top players. describing lateness as “rude.”.

Even with the fights and friction, Evans’ relationships with the very top stayed intact. He said he maintained a good relationship with top players, and he described Roger Federer’s respect in particular. Federer invited Evans to train with him on numerous occasions. After beating Evans in three tight sets at the 2019 Australian Open, Federer said it had been like facing “a mirror.”.

Not every disagreement stayed behind the baseline. At the 2019 Australian Open. Evans pushed back publicly against Jamie Murray’s suggestion that Louis Cayer—described as a doubles guru—should become the LTA national performance director across all disciplines. Evans told the Daily Mail at the time. “Jamie (Murray) thinks we should be celebrating six pairs inside the main draw of a Grand Slam?” He added: “So we are celebrating people who didn’t make it at singles and people who didn’t have the attitude to work hard enough to make it in the singles game.”.

Murray responded in a news conference by describing Evans’ comments as “lazy” and “ignorant.” When Evans was asked for his current views during the Tennis Podcast interview. he shifted his position while still sharpening the focus: “First and foremost. we need to start getting singles guys in the top 100. not No. 1 in the world at doubles.”.

He added that his earlier language may not have landed as accurately as he intended: “My comments about ‘they don’t work hard enough’ probably wasn’t correct in part. Maybe some of them. after their singles career where they weren’t working so hard. then decided to work very hard at doubles. would probably be more the truth.”.

After his anti-doping suspension, Evans rebuilt. He reached his career-high ranking of No. 21 in August 2023 after winning the biggest title of his career, the Citi Open in Washington D.C., a 500-level event.

A year later, he chose something that cost him in rankings but earned him admiration. Evans did not return to defend his Citi Open title in order to play the 2024 Paris Olympic Games men’s doubles event with Andy Murray. who was retiring after the tournament. That decision cost him 500 ranking points and sent his ranking tumbling 118 places—from No. 58 to No. 176. But Evans won two thrilling matches with Murray. saving match points in both. and received widespread praise for his personal sacrifice to play in Paris.

In the interview, Evans described the experience as “one of the best moments of my career.”

He never returned close to the world’s top 100 after that drop in summer 2024. But he did have flashes of old steel. In August, he won the longest match in U.S. Open history, defeating the No. 23 seed Karen Khachanov in 5 hours and 35 minutes after trailing 4-0 in the final set. Last June, he fought back tears after defeating the world No. 13 Tommy Paul to reach the quarterfinals of the Eastbourne Open.

The recent numbers have been harsher. Evans has won only three tour-level matches since, and none since July 2025. In 2026, he has played just six matches because of a wrist injury, winning one of them.

Asked about the next step, Evans said Tuesday that he is hopeful of receiving one of those two remaining singles wild cards. With his career winding toward Wimbledon, he remains a favorite with British fans for his exciting game style, fighting spirit and outspokenness.

He may not get one last singles runway. But with a doubles wild card. a partner he has helped rehabilitate and develop. and a retirement plan already locked in. Evans is not approaching the end like a quiet exit. He is approaching it like he always has—talking, pushing, and trying to make the last moments count.

Dan Evans Wimbledon retirement wild card doubles wild card Henry Searle Queen's Club LTA British tennis coaching injury French Open qualifying cocaine ban Novak Djokovic Roger Federer Andy Murray Paris Olympics