“I can’t prepare to play against two people” Dan Evans criticises the Davis Cup rule of allowing to change players an hour prior to the match
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Dan Evans
World No. 25 and British number 2 Dan Evans recently talked about the rules of the Davis Cup that allows a change in players before rubber 2 and 3. Evans had given Britain the lead after thrashing Peter Gojowczyk 6-2 6-1 in the first singles but a 7-6(6) 3-6 6-2 victory by Jan-Lennard Struff over Cameron Norrie split the tie 1-1, making the doubles the decider.
The German pair of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz won a thrilling clash against Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski 7-6(10), 7-6(5) with Germany 0-5 down in the tiebreaker in the second set but lost 7 consecutive points in a row to send Germany into the semi-finals and avenge their defeat to Britain in the same stage in 2019.
Speaking in the press conference after their defeat, Evans said, “In a way, that’s the beauty of this competition. But I don’t think it’s particularly fair for number 2 to be able to change it an hour before the game. I think it should be picked the day before, in my opinion. But that’s my opinion. You have to do with those things. I can’t prepare to play against two people. I can’t do all of this the night before.
“We guessed it would be Koepfer, so I got ready to play against Koepfer. For the quality of the tennis of the event, I think this should be decided the night before. I just think it would be a little better for the prep and everything. But on the other hand, it’s pretty cool to be able to replace someone and that’s a different way of looking at it. It all depends on how you see it,” added the Brit.
Dan Evans ends the season with a 27-24 record
Evans started the season well with a title in Melbourne winning the Murray River Open but did not reach another final in the season. His best result after that came in the Monte Carlo Masters where he made it to the semi-finals losing to eventual champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight-sets with the Greek dropping only 3 sets.
He made it to the 4th round of the US Open and the 3rd round of the Wimbledon but lost in the first round of the Australian Open and French Open. His form dipped terribly in the second half of the season where he made his comeback after he had tested positive for Covid-19 that saw him miss the Tokyo Olympics. The dip also saw Norrie take over the British No. 1 rank from Evans.
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Sarthak Shitole
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