Ahead of the French Open, Dan Evans vented his frustration with the way British tennis is run.
On Sunday’s court, his frustrations were instead confined to himself in an entirely winnable opening round match he lost to Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets 6-4 6-4 6-4.
At the second Grand Slam in a row, Kokkinakis met a Brit early on. At the Australian Open he was defeated in the five-set marathon by Andy Murray, against Evans in Roland Garros he deservedly emerged as the winner.
The result was perhaps a bit harsh for the British No. 2, who got little wrong in the first set and led 4-1 in the second before his Australian opponent went on a streak of five straight wins to secure the set.
It was up to Evans to blame himself, those in his box and the referee for a foot fault in a split and take a 4-2 lead in the set.
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That proved crucial, as did an epic 10-minute play in game nine that could have gone either way. It ended up being against the 20th seed, so he had to climb a mountain, which he couldn’t manage.
There was much head shaking and self-flagellation when he was broken in the fifth game of the third set. He managed to get back into the game and a rare double fault from Kokkinakis gave him the break to level the score at 4-4.
But it was only a temporary relief, Evans was busted in the next game and there was no turning back. That meant Kokkinakis advanced to the second round and Evans prepared to travel to the UK to enjoy the home-grown comforts of the grass season.
This means that the individual draws are even closer to British players. For the first time since 2009, there are no British women in singles at a Grand Slam, despite six players attempting to progress through qualification.
And now hopes of a home game rest solely on the shoulders of Jack Draper, who has just returned from a hip injury, and Cameron Norrie, who appeared to be suffering from stomach problems when he was eliminated from the Lyon Open earlier this week. Both are in action on Monday.
