I don’t work hard enough, it’s my fault says Dan Evans
BRUTALLY honest Dan Evans admitted that off-court distractions stop him training hard enough after he came close to beating a player ranked 258 places higher in Great Britain’s Davis Cup match.
It was a tremendous performance by Evans, 22, to take Dmitry Tursunov, ranked 67th in the world, all the way as they battled for three hours 56 minutes until the Russian’s experience proved vital in closing out a win.
It should offer incentive for a man who has plied his trade in the tennis hot-spots of Sunderland, Shrewsbury and Bath, earning a meagre £2,821 this year.
Evans, ranked 325th, delivered similar but winning tennis over a year ago in a GB shirt. But the Birmingham player refuses to believe this could be the start of a new dawn.
“I want to push on, obviously I do,” he said after a 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 loss.
“But there are distractions. There are other things in life.
“I’m from a pretty working-class background and there are always other things going on. I don’t train hard enough, I don’t work hard enough. I know that’s the reason. It’s my fault.”
I don’t train hard enough, I don’t work hard enough. I know that’s the reason. It’s my fault
Then Evans, who has had several run-ins over behaviour with the LTA, cheekily had a little go at those who believe his attitude will kill his career: “I’m obviously bad at my job,” he said.
Tursunov, who helped his country win the Davis Cup in 2006, was unable at first to shake off Evans, who thrived in front of a home crowd in Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.
But gradually the Russian asserted his superiority to give his country the lead.
The visitors then went 2-0 up after a tense second rubber in which Briton James Ward also had chances to win.
He led Evgeny Donskoy by two sets to love and 4-2 in the third only to eventually lose 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-8 in three hours 45 minutes during which time he saved a match point.
At stake for GB over the weekend is a place in the play-offs for the elite World Group in September.