Dan Evans was forced to retire from his first round match at Queen’s yesterday after slipping on the grass, with the Brit admitting that he is ‘worried’ ahead of Wimbledon and the Olympics.Evans retired after losing the second set to American Brandon Nakashima, after a fall to the ground appeared to hurt his knee and required treatment from the physio.
This meant that the 34-year-old has now lost eight consecutive main tour matches, as he confessed to feeling ‘heartbroken’ after the incident.
“I’m heartbroken at the minute,” said Evans after the match. “It’s probably the worst thing you can do on the grass. [Your leg goes one way and] Your body goes one way. We have all seen that sort of motion before. You wince if you’re watching, and you hope it’s not too bad if it’s happening to you.”
Despite not having a scan yet, Evans appeared to believe that he had damaged his medial collateral ligament (MCL) and will be undergoing tests in the next couple of days.
This could cause the world No.59 to miss Wimbledon and maybe even the Olympics, something that Evans seemed very aware of when speaking to press.
“I heard a crack in my groin, but that seemed to be okay. I think it’s MCL,” explained Evans. “I’ve got to wait 48 hours, let it settle, and then get a scan. Yeah, I’m worried. I’m in limbo a bit.”
He added, “If I miss the Olympics or Wimbledon, it would be a tough one to swallow, no doubt.”
Wimbledon begins in under two weeks time, with Evans set to play in both singles and doubles with British teenager Henry Searle.Inside the baseline…It is tough scene for Dan Evans, who has had a tough year in terms of results and now his body has taken another knock. The timing is even worse, with any sort of injury making it very difficult to play Wimbledon with such a short time to recover for his home major. The Olympics may be more realistic if the injury is an MCL, with Evans planning to play both singles and doubles with Andy Murray in Paris.READ NEXT: Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka headline Wimbledon wildcard list
