BBC Wimbledon pundit responds to
Tim Henman has confirmed the reason why Dan Evans was not given a wildcard to Wimbledon this year after he took aim at the decision. Evans saw his singles career end with defeat in the second round of Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton.
But that only came after Evans missed out on a guaranteed final singles match at Wimbledon because the two last wild cards went to British pair Harry Wendelken and Felix Gill. The 36-year-old, who has been a stalwart for Great Britain in the Davis Cup and also partnered Andy Murray at the Paris Olympics in 2024, announced earlier this month that Wimbledon would be the final tournament of his roller-coaster two decades as a professional.
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He was less than impressed by the decision not to give him a wildcard, but Henman, a main board member of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (which hosts Wimbledon), revealed the reason was simply down to numbers.
He said: "We would've loved to, and I think I speak on behalf of Anne as well, given Dan Evans a wildcard, but there was only eight in the draw.
"The way it works is that the LTA come and presents to our wildcard committee then we have to decide. There was six British players ahead of Dan for main draw wild cards then we wanted to give [one to] Grigor Dimitrov, who was in the quarter-finals here last year, two sets up against Jannik Sinner, tore his pec muscle.
"Then Stan Wawrinka is a three-time Grand Slam champion. Perhaps if there had been 12 or 13, Dan would have got one, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. He had a good performance in the first round of qualifying and then lost in second round.
"I'm glad to say he was given a doubles wildcard with Henry Searle, so he will get the opportunity of playing at the championships in his last ever professional tournament."
On his snub, Evans, speaking following his 7-5, 6-0 qualifying defeat to Tristan Schoolkate, said:"No, listen, I'm fine with what I just think... Not one member of the LTA watched one of my matches; actually, Colin Beecher did because he's my friend.
"It's not that deep, chaps or ladies. So that's how you want to f*****g act, carry on, like, pathetic. I certainly didn't do that [drop out of a tournament to play in the Olympics and lose ranking points] for Great Britain. I did it because Andy is my friend.
"I wanted to play Olympics and I've never been one about defending points or titles. It's just... You expect something back in return; but I won't be campaigning for my player to play Davis Cup.
"He's making his own decisions on that. I won't be getting involved in those sort of... It's up to him when if he wants to play, but... I won't be campaigning like I used to for Davis Cup and represent your country, 'cause... it didn't get me very far, did it?"