Dan Evans Gives Brutal ‘9-5’ Response to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s Complaint About 11 AM Starts: “Pathetic”

Dan Evans and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina hold a 1-1 head-to-head record, and haven't yet faced each other since the 2020 Doha Open.

Dan Evans Gives Brutal ‘9-5’ Response to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s Complaint About 11 AM Starts: “Pathetic”

Dan Evans, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Image via Sky Sports, X/Univers Tennis)

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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina criticized the scheduling of his matches at the Canadian Open. But for his complaints, he was called “pathetic” by British player Dan Evans.

Fokina knocked out Corentin Moutet 6-4, 6-3 to schedule a second-round clash with Jakub Mensik. Following the match, Fokina slammed the Canadian Open for scheduling his match at 11 am local time in Toronto. He wrote on X:

Today, I want to share my disappointment and frustration with ATP. Tomorrow, every match starts at 12:30 except ours, which has been scheduled at 11:00. We are staying one hour away from the club, which means we have to wake up extremely early to arrive in good condition. We have asked for a change, but the answer was that everything has already been sold, including tickets and TV rights.

But Dan Evans brutally slammed him for this. He reminded him that people all over the world also wake up early for their work. The 35-year-old wrote on Instagram story:

Wake up and play. The world wakes up and works 9-5 even 8-6, pathetic.

Evans last participated at the Citi Open, where he reached the fourth round only to lose in straight sets to Corentin Moutet. He has lifted two titles in his career, but none in the 2025 season.

Steve Johnson says Alejandro Davidovich Fokina crying after losing the Citi Open was hard to watch

Before participating in the Canadian Open, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina came close to lifting his first title of his career. At the Citi Open, he scheduled a clash with Alex de Minaur in the final.

Alex de Minaur, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Alex de Minaur, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Image via X/We Love Tennis)

The Aussie came from a set down to clinch a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(3) but not before saving three championship points. Right after the defeat, Fokina hid his face on his towel and started to cry, while de Minaur tried his best to console him. Former player Steve Johnson has now reacted to the scene on the Nothing Major podcast.

The scene after the final was hard to watch. Like he’s just hiding in the towel, you can kind of see he’s…you know, there’s some tears coming out of there. You just know how much, I mean, you guys all know how much it means to win a title. He doesn’t have one. He’s not that this really means a whole lot, but he’s the highest-ranked guy to not have a title. I mean, everybody in the top 35, I think, has a title.

Prior to the Canadian Open, Fokina had also reached the final of the Mexican Open and the Delray Beach Open, beating Tomas Machac and Miomir Kecmanovic, respectively. In Delray Beach, Kecmanovic saved two match points en route to the win.

At the Canadian Open, the World No.19 was a semifinalist in 2023. It was eventual runner-up Minaur who denied him the win. Last year, Matteo Arnaldi ended his run in the fourth round. The 26-year-old produced his best performance in Masters 1000 tournaments when he reached the final of the 2022 Monte Carlo Masters, losing that match to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

De Minaur, on the other hand, is a 10-time ATP titlist. The Citi Open was his first title of the season. Earlier this season, the World No.8 lost in three sets to five-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz in the Rotterdam Open final.

In the Toronto Masters 1000, the ninth seed knocked out Francisco Comesana in his opening round, before Christopher O’Connell handed him the walkover in the third round. The 26-year-old is a former finalist at the Canadian Open. Back in 2023 in Toronto, he reached a championship clash of a Masters 1000 event for the first time, only to lose in straight sets to four-time Grand Slam champion Jannik Sinner.

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