Dan Evans reveals he is ‘fed up with the umpires’ after Roland Garros exit
Dan Evans has hit out at tennis umpiring, after the 34-year-old lost in the first round of Roland Garros for a sixth time in his career.
Evans was beaten by 13th seed Holger Rune, 4-6 4-6 4-6, with the scoreline only telling some of the story.
The Brit was actually 4-2 up in the third set, when umpire Jaume Campistol came out of his chair to review a mark that actually went in Evans’ favour.
However, this delay was followed by Evans being broken and he subsequently lost the next three games to exit the tournament.
And Evans has suggested that he is not a fan of these pauses in play, “I’m fed up with the umpires, flat full stop. I’m waiting to serve. It’s freezing on the court. The match was flowing great and then just stopped in the middle. That’s not the reason I lost and that’s just part of the issue, part of the problem, but he’ll be back in work again tomorrow.”
He continued, “On the whole, the umpiring is good. The clay is a difficult surface. But definitely having a conversation on somebody else’s serve, you don’t see it in any other sport.
“In rugby, they get 10 metres or whatever, squash you’re not allowed, it’s no talking. We just sit there and have a conversation. We’ve seen many cases of it.”
This is not the first time that Evans has had issues with umpiring during the 2024 clay court season, having also disputed Mohamed Lahyani’s decision in his match against Fabio Fognini at the Italian Open.
Evans has since revealed that he was fined for his exchange with the umpire in Rome, “I actually got fined in Rome for my language. I made a point of looking at my prize money receipt and I was fined.”
“Don’t scream at me” ????
Dan Evans was involved in a heated exchange over a decision from the umpire in his Round of 128 match against Fabio Fognini at the Italian Open????pic.twitter.com/i1JQJynfkX
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 10, 2024
The world No.62 was not the only British player to struggle at Roland Garros this year, with all six singles players losing in the first round.
Despite his disappointment in singles, Evans’s Roland Garros is not over just yet, as he has received a wildcard to play doubles alongside Andy Murray.
Inside the baseline…
It was a very poor showing from the Brits in Paris, with Katie Boulter getting the closest to victory after a tight match against Paula Badosa. In terms of the pauses in play during the clay court season, Dan Evans may have a point, but it appears that hawkeye is just not as accurate on the dirt and therefore umpire’s manually checking the marks is the best way forward at the moment.
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