‘It’s f***ing annoying!’: Fed up Dan Evans threatens to QUIT Great Britain’s Davis Cup team after never being asked to play doubles… with the British No 2 ‘insulted’ at being snubbed in favour of specialists
- British No 2 Dan Evans is ‘insulted’ at being overlooked for Davis Cup doubles
- Evans has played 30 singles matches for Great Britain since joining team in 2009
- He is a strong doubles player but has never been asked by captain Leon Smith
- The 32-year-old said it’s ‘f***ing annoying’ that he has never been given a chance
Dan Evans is so annoyed about being overlooked to play doubles that he is considering his future with Great Britain’s Davis Cup team.
The British No 2 is a prominent singles player for Leon Smith’s team and has played 30 matches since first coming into the David Cup group back in 2009.
But having never been asked to compete in doubles for GB, an ‘insulted’ Evans is now unsure what the future holds.
Dan Evans (left) is so frustrated at not being selected for Davis Cup doubles that he is considering his future with the team. (Right: doubles pair Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski)
‘It’s f**king annoying. It’s disappointing,’ he told the i.
‘To be frank, it’s a bit insulting also that I haven’t been picked ever to play the Davis Cup [in doubles].
‘This is meant in the nicest possible way to the doubles guys, there’s nothing against them – but I don’t need to play doubles on the tour to prove how good I am at doubles. When I do, I normally do okay.
‘I think we need to look past doubles rankings for a Davis Cup tie and if a game style fits or a game style doesn’t then maybe we should be picking other people.’
Evans, British No 2, has been involved in Davis Cup tennis since making his debut back in 2009
Team captain Leon Smith had a chat with Evans in 2021 about doubles but didn’t select him
Evans has enjoyed rich success in Davis Cup and was part of the 2015 squad which won it, led by Andy Murray.
But, clearly, watching Great Britain get knocked out in a doubles decider against Holland last month, with Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski as GB’s doubles pairing, frustrated Evans.
He wants selections to go beyond simply looking at doubles rankings and to focus more on match-by-match match-ups.
In 2022 Evans has played 18 doubles matches and made a run to the final of the Canadian Open.
Evans (middle) is incredibly passionate but he wants to contribute beyond his singles matches
Evans, alongside Skupski, reached the two ATP 1,000 doubles finals in 2021, a season in which he was again overlooked for Davis Cup doubles with Salisbury and Skupski beaten by Germany in the quarter-finals in Austria.
Evans revealed he spoke to Smith about playing in Austria and has suggested another conversation may be needed in case the captain wants to go ‘a different way’ for the future.
The British No 2 is desperate to replicate the success of 2015 and doesn’t ‘want to play for myself’ which is behind his desire to also compete in the doubles.
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