Dan Evans hits out at British tennis and pledges to campaign before Wimbledon

Dan Evans has pledged to keep campaigning to get more working-class people playing pro tennis as he stated: “I’m not interested how a doctor’s son does in the sport. I couldn’t care less.” The British No.2, the son of a nurse and an electrician, went to the same Solihull state secondary school as football stars Jack Grealish and Karen Carney before choosing tennis.

Now 33, the world No.30 has won more than $7million, an ATP title and the Davis Cup. But Evans has never forgotten where he has come from or how to talk straight.

At the French Open he claimed that Emma Raducanu’s success had “papered over the cracks” in “elitist” English tennis as he said: “I don’t think there’s a chance for people from working-class backgrounds to get into the sport if their parents don’t have money.”

Speaking this week in the garden of his rented home in Wimbledon Village, Dubai-based Evans doubled-down on his words before the poshest Grand Slam of them all.

And he paid heed to the story of Paul Jubb, who was raised on a Hull council estate by grandmother Val, and took eventual finalist, Nick Kyrgios, to five sets at Wimbledon last year, only to fall back to world No.449 now.

“I speak out because I care about the sport,” he insisted. “People always think it’s against the governing body (the LTA) but it’s not that. I’m not interested in how a doctor’s son does in the sport, I’m really not. I couldn’t care less. I’m interested in somebody who’s struggled a bit.

“Paul Jubb’s story is an amazing story but it’d be amazing for some for him to get inside the top 100. I’m not saying people who have it harder feel a better level of relief or satisfaction when they get inside 100 or they do something good, but it just strikes a chord with me how good that is.

“And I know what it feels like. I never, ever wanted as a child. But it feels good to be comfortable. It’s an amazing feeling. And it’s an amazing thing to get success in such a big sport in the world where you probably shouldn’t be doing that if you grew up at a little tennis club.

“It’s a pretty cool thing. And that’s why I look out for the other people from that sort of background. It’s only right. People get selfish when they get good. And they don’t give a s**t about anybody else.

“It’s always good to give back. I don’t think it’s fair if I take all the plaudits and then don’t look out for the rest. I’ve done that pretty well. Whenever anybody’s asked me for advice, I’ve given them the time of day and that’s important.”

Evans wants more players to play more matches to get into the top 100 and beyond.

“What the country needs is more people competing as a living,” he said. “The riches aren’t at 70 in the world. They’re not.”

His current poor form is not where Evans wants to be. He has won one match in five events and admitted he wasn’t looking forward to Wimbledon after his “embarrassing” Queen’s Club defeat.

“I would say I am apprehensive more than anything,” said Evans, who is seeded No.28 at SW19 this year. “But in the real world, it’s not even a subject how bad Dan Evans is playing.”

But tennis is not the real world. It is full of “amazing people” and “a few prima donnas”.

Evans laughed: “It’s cool to have a front row seat to everything which happens on the tour. And that’s why I don’t need to watch Netflix. I see it all!”