Dan Evans has hinted he may walk away from Great Britain's Davis Cup team after growing frustrated at not being picked to play doubles. The 32-year-old has played 30 singles matches since making his Davis Cup debut in 2009 and was part of the winning squad in 2015.
Thursday 20 October 2022 13:59, UK
Dan Evans could walk away from Great Britain's Davis Cup team after growing frustrated at not being picked to play doubles.
The 32-year-old made his Davis Cup debut in 2009, when they were relegated to the third tier of tennis, and he has gone on to play 30 singles matches in 13 years and was part of the 2015 squad which won the tournament.
However, the British number two has suggested he may quit the team because he thinks he can play doubles as well as singles but hasn't been asked to do so.
"It's disappointing. To be frank, it's a bit insulting also that I haven't been picked ever to play the Davis Cup [in doubles]," Evans told the i.
"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."
Last year, Evans reached two Masters 1000 finals playing doubles with fellow Brit Neal Skupski, but during the 2021 Davis Cup finals in Innsbruck, captain Leon Smith asked Evans to play singles, while Skupski and Joe Sailsbury were beaten by Germany in the quarter-finals.
"I had the conversation [asking to play] in Austria," Evans added.
"I played with Neal before for a year to try and play Davis Cup, and didn't get picked. I'm at a loss as to why I've never played.
"It's frustrating, as I said, and a bit insulting as well. It's something I have to think about going forward if I want to put myself in that position again to keep going there and we're not getting the right results.
"Maybe I should have a conversation and sit down, and if he [Smith] wants to go a different way then it's entirely up to him. He's the captain."
Evans said that he wants to play doubles because it is in the best interest of the team and all he wants is for Great Britain to do well.
"It's disappointing and mainly it's for the team. I don't want to play for myself. I want to play because I think that's the best for the team.
"The whole thing with Davis Cup is I just want the country to do good. It's my passion for us as a country to do well."
"It's not this singles vs doubles thing. I just want the best team on the court and the last few times, at times it's been hard to be sat there on the side thinking 'I think I'm a better option' and that's my opinion, obviously.
"It's never been offered to me to play and that may be something I'll regret till the day is done."
The Brit is currently playing on the European Tour in Antwerp, where he is now through to the quarter-finals after a comfortable win over Constant Lestienne on Wednesday.
Evans, seeded fifth, needed only 75 minutes to dispatch the Frenchman 6-2 6-1 as he chases his first tour-level title of the season.
The 32-year-old, who beat Dutchman Tallon Greikspoor in the first round, won 82 per cent of his first-serve points and broke five times to take the win.
