Dan Evans has not spoken to Davis Cup captain Leon Smith since his ‘f***ing annoying’ outburst… as the British No 2 doubles down on his threat to quit team over selection snub
- Despite being in Paris together this week they have not cleared the air
- Evans is still annoyed that he was not picked for deciding doubles matches
- British No 2 may not make himself available for Davis Cup matches in February
Dan Evans and British Davis Cup Captain Leon Smith have still not spoken to each other after the player’s complaints over selection.
Despite being in Paris together this week they have not cleared the air, and on Tuesday Evans reiterated he might not make himself available for next year’s World Group first round in February.
The GB No 2 remains annoyed that he was not picked for the deciding doubles matches in September’s qualifying group in Glasgow, which saw the host nation fail to qualify for this month’s World Finals.
Dan Evans (above) may not make himself available for Davis Cup matches in February
Evans – who went out of the Paris Masters second round 6-3 6-4 against Stefanos Tsitsipas – described as ‘shocking’ one of the pivotal, albeit narrow, defeats suffered by Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury, who were preferred to him.
The 32 year-old Midlander, rarely afraid to speak his mind, also believes that doubles star Salisbury was not fully fit, having hotfooted it to Scotland straight after winning the US Open.
‘He hadn’t played much tennis on those courts (in Glasgow) and just throwing him in with Andy wasn’t the answer in my opinion,’ said Evans, who was left courtside when GB were edged out by Holland and the USA.
‘Let’s not forget Rajeev Ram (playing for the US) played the opposite side (of the court) to what he normally plays in that match. That wasn’t a good loss or a bad loss, that was a shocking loss. And that’s why I can’t sit there and do it all over again.
British No 2 is still annoyed that he was left courtside when GB were beaten in the Davis Cup
‘It’s not personal against Leon. I think he’s done a great job over 13 years but the facts are we haven’t qualified for the finals and that’s disappointing. This as good as I can put it: the singles guys are better than the doubles guys if your singles game style matches up to play doubles.
‘I love playing for my country, but I’m not going to put myself in the situation where I’m sat on the side and I’m like, ‘Guys it’s very obvious to a lot of other people who should have been playing”. I had plenty of messages from good judges, some grand slam winners.
‘Maybe I’m putting too much into it and maybe I should just take a step back from it. Because I was devastated after when we lost.’
On his lack of communication with Smith, who has been in the same venue temporarily coaching Jack Draper, he reflected: ‘ I’ve had worst scraps in my life. He’s not had a massive amount of time here and I’ve not had a massive amount.’
Smith declined to comment.
Despite being in Paris this week Evans and team captain Leon Smith have not cleared the air
Another element to the Glasgow fallout was the absence from the tie of Lawn Tennis Association doubles guru Louis Cayer, for reasons that are still not entirely clear.
Earlier this week Cam Norrie confirmed that there had been an incident at Queen’s last year when he was playing against Salisbury in the doubles, and found it strange when the watching Cayer clapped a winner from his opponents.
Cayer is perceived as a proponent of picking doubles specialists in the Davis Cup and his no-show looked peculiar, given the results which saw GB knocked out, against expectations. Norrie also affirmed that he respects the work the veteran Canadian does with the two-man code.
The British team will discover their first round opponents for next year early next month.
Evans will end the year inside the world’s singles top 30. Draper went down 6-3 7-5 to American Frances Tiafoe, and will now play in next week’s NextGen Finals in Milan for the world’s best under 21 players. Having started the year ranked 265 he will finish around 41, a huge leap suggesting exceptional promise.
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