Dan Evans boots a water bottle and blasts the ‘state of British tennis’ as he crashes OUT in the first round of the French Open against Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets, while claiming a foot-fault caused him to lose focus
- Dan Evans has crashed out of the French Open after losing to Thanasi Kokkinakis
- The Brit lost in straight sets and took his frustrations out on a water bottle
- He blasted ‘the state of British tennis’ and said a foot fault saw him to lose focus
Dan Evans said a controversial foot-fault call caused him to lose concentration as he slumped to a bruising first-round exit to leave just two Brits in the Roland Garros singles draw.
Evans, seeded No 20, lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis after chucking away a 4-1 second-set lead which caused him to smash a water bottle in anger.
The 33-year-old Brit claimed he and clay courts were ‘not sleeping in the same bed’ ahead of this tournament but after this chastening experience, he might as well move out.
His clay-court season started in promising fashion with runs to the semi-finals in Marrakesh and Barcelona but he has now fallen to first-round defeats in Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome and Paris.
Evans slammed the officials for a foot-fault call at 4-1, which also led him to vent his frustration on the court and break a water bottle in anger. It was Kokkinakis’s first win at Roland Garros for eight years.
Dan Evans has crashed out of the French Open after losing in straight sets in the first round to Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis
It was Kokkinakis’ first win in eight years at the tournament, despatching the Brit 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
‘The players are held responsible, but the umpires and line judges are not held responsible,’ said Evans. ‘I’ll be getting fined, obviously, for breaking the water bottle. We’ll just go through the same cycle again, yeah?
‘The foot fault threw me quite a bit in terms of knowing where I was then serving from. My technique sort of got thrown out. It was difficult from then on.
‘I sort of lost all trust in where my feet were. It’s a very minor thing, but it became a pretty big thing in my head. It was then difficult to get away from that, especially on second serve because I just didn’t feel I knew where I was on the court. It’s strange.
‘If they’re going to call that foot fault, it shouldn’t be from 35 metres away, from fence to fence through a net.
No 20 seed, Evans, took his anger out on a water bottle before slamming the ‘current state of British tennis’
Evans (right) said a controversial foot fault caused him to lose focus during the match
‘That’s not the reason I lost, but I was right in the match at that point.’
The defeat leaves just Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie to fly the flag for Britain and they both play on Monday.
On the challenging time for British tennis, Evans said: ‘I’ve got my own battles to deal with right now on the court. It’s very obvious the state of… or not the state (of British tennis). It’s a very negative word, but that’s how it is.
‘Again, like I said, I’ve got to get my game in a spot where I’m able to compete at this level. I’ve been very poor in the big tournaments this year. It’s not good enough.’
