According to Emily Salley of BBC on Thursday, former British number one Dan Evans of Birmingham, England plans to retire after Wimbledon at the age of 36. Evans was ranked as high as 21st in the world and was the top ranked British player in the world from 2019 to 2021.
Evans’s retirement should not be that much of a surprise. He broke his wrist at the Guangzhou Challenger in September, and has not really been the same since. At the time of the injury, Evans was leading Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina 6-4, 1-1. Evans fell during a rally, and even though he was able to break Cerundolo and win the first point on his next service game, he was unable to continue with the match due to the discomfort. When he withdrew, Evans slammed his racket. Cerundolo, meanwhile, made headlines at the French Open, when he beat world number one Jannik Sinner of Italy, in the second round.
Evans won two ATP titles in his career. He first won the 2021 Murray River Open in Melbourne, Australia, where he beat world number four and two-time United States Open semifinalist Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in the final, 6-2, 6-3. Evans then won the 2023 Washington Open where he beat Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, 7-5, 6-3. Prior to beating Griekspoor in the Washington final, Evans beat Frances Tiafoe of the United States in the quarterfinals and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the semifinals.
Evans’s most memorable win of his career came in the third round of Monte Carlo in 2021. It was there Evans defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia, 6-4, 7-5.
Since the withdrawal in China, Evans has not played a match on the ATP Tour. He lost in qualifying at the Australian Open and French Open, and only won one qualifying challenger match. At the Ilkley Challenger on June 7, Evans defeated James Watt of New Zealand, 6-4, 6-2.
