Dan Evans hit in the LTA after losing in the first round at Roland Garros. Credit: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
Dan Evans slapped the British game for its elitism, describing himself as a rare working-class professional tennis player after a disappointing early elimination at the French Open.
At a fiery press conference, Evans doubled down on Saturday's criticism of Tennis Association Lawn and demanded that the sport be open to players from poorer backgrounds.
«I speak my mind because I want working class kids to get the support that they deserve it,” Evans said after his 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis. «I do it for working class people like I used to.»
Evans told reporters on Saturday that the LTA is focusing too narrowly, handing out only five so-called PSP (Pro-Scholarship Program) contracts.
These five players each receive around £70,000 in support. . They include Paul Jubb, who grew up on a council estate in Hull, and two privately educated women, Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage.
“[When] they pass through the UK. «He was always good when he was young,» Evans said. “Ten times out of ten, they are most likely from a very good area.
«I just don't think working class people have a chance to play sports and get a chance if their parents don't have money.»
“ In any other sport, when people give their opinion about the system, it goes ahead. But in tennis, because we're so elitist in England, it's not like that.»
Evans' criticism will resonate with anyone who has tried to develop young talent in Britain. Tennis is a surprisingly inexpensive sport to enjoy, with many clubs charging around £150 for an annual membership. But as soon as you try to take it more seriously, coaching fees and travel costs skyrocket.
Most of the time, these are players who excel at an early age and thus earn long-term LTAs. support is those whose parents were able to invest in them.
«They [LTA] think I'm doing this against them,» Evans explained. “I'm just asking for things to be a little different so that more people have a chance to get funded. That's why I do it.
“It's not personal. Everyone takes it personally. It's not personal at all.”
If Evans was scathing about the British tennis system, he was equally critical of his game. “Now it’s shocking how I played today,” he said. “I was in last place from start to finish, and he was decent.
“Now I have my own battles on the court. This year I performed very poorly in major tournaments. [I had] an incredibly good draw in Australia and I played a few matches but I was bad at the Masters, I only had one good tournament this year.
“I said the other day there is some soul-searching . Tonight in St. Cloud or wherever I am, there will be a lot of it.”
Evans was in a defiant form in the interrogation room, and officials were the next target of his anger. This seemed entirely justified given that the match depended on a dubious foot error in the middle of the second set.
Evans led 4-1, 30-0 when he was called out for pushing his back foot over a notch in the middle of the baseline — a very unusual incident that is akin to a cricketer not getting the ball for going out of touch. line. crease, and not over the front line, as usual.
Evans soon got into trouble for breaking his water bottle in a rage, which, according to television replays, looked like an inexplicable decision. He lost five games in a row as his control of the match slipped away.
Asked if the challenge that led to the double fault was subversive, Evans replied: «Subversive, wrong, a few more things you could say about it. It's a game. But again, the players are responsible, but the umpires and linesmen are not.
“I'm obviously going to be penalized for breaking a water bottle. We'll just go through the same cycle again, yeah Obviously, this confused me a little, because I kind of lost all confidence in where my legs were. It's a very small thing, but it's become quite a big thing in my head. It was hard to get away from that back then, especially on the second serve, because I just didn't feel like I knew where I was on the court. It's weird.
“If they're going to call it a foot, it shouldn't be from 35 meters, from fence to fence across the net. I didn't lose for that reason, but at that moment I was right in the match.
“They [the referees] find a way to intervene. Whoever sits in the chair, they find a way, and they are good at it. They are actively involved.”
Свежие комментарии