BBC commentator and former world number four Greg Rusedski has slammed Wimbledon's decision not to grant retiring British tennis star Dan Evans a singles wildcard, describing the move as an 'own goal' for the All England Club.
Evans denied singles wildcard
Evans, a former British number one, announced his retirement last month and hoped to play his final tournament at Wimbledon in the men's singles as a wildcard. However, tournament officials instead offered him a wildcard for the men's doubles, a decision Evans called 'disrespectful'. Evans fell short in singles qualifying and his doubles campaign ended early when he and partner Henry Searle lost in straight sets to Hugo Nys and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Rusedski criticises decision
Speaking on the Off Court podcast, Rusedski questioned the rationale behind the snub. 'The question you've got to ask yourself is how many male British players in the last 20 years have been in the top-30 in the world? That's one of the questions,' he said. 'And then also you've got to think that Dan Evans wanted to retire at Wimbledon. Tim Henman and I retired at the Davis Cup, Andy Murray announced his retirement at Wimbledon and then got a retirement ceremony. So he got what he wanted out of the situation.'
Rusedski argued that the LTA and Wimbledon should have made a bigger effort to honour Evans. 'Since that was going to be his last-ever tournament, wouldn't it be good to back Dan and make a big deal out of him, maybe put on a ceremony to mark his last-ever game? Let's not forget he's the guy who gave up ranking points to play in the Olympics with a certain Sir Andy Murray, and that was a big sacrifice for him at the time given his ranking. I think it was a little bit of an own goal there.'
Henman defends wildcard committee
Tim Henman, a board member at the All England Club, defended the decision, stating that other players were prioritised. 'We would have loved to have given Dan Evans a wildcard but there were only eight in the main draw,' Henman said earlier in the week. 'The way it works is that the LTA come and present to a wildcard committee. They then leave the room and we have to decide. There were certainly six British players ahead of Dan for main draw wildcards and then we also wanted to give Grigor Dimitrov, who made the quarter finals here last year, and was up two sets to love against Jannik Sinner and then tore his pec muscle. And then Stan Wawrinka is a three time Grand Slam champion. Perhaps if there had been 12 or 13 main draw wildcards he would have got one but unfortunately it wasn't to be.'
Evans expresses frustration
Evans did not hide his disappointment after his doubles exit. 'I know they don't like people voicing their views and I'm more than happy to voice mine. So not getting a wildcard was bewildering. I thought it was disrespectful, to be quite frank. But that's life. It's been a different way to end, but it's been pretty cool.'
Rusedski echoed the sentiment, noting that British wildcards are often given to players with little chance of winning a match. 'Yes he hasn't been playing full-time but come on, how many British wildcards have we seen who don't even have a chance of winning a match – and they get wildcards. I would have loved to see Dan get a singles wildcard and for them to make a big deal out of him. That would have been the right thing to do.'
