Dan Evans laments over sorry state of British tennis, says Emma Raducanu's presence helped bail them out in recent times
The 2023 French Open will feature only three British men in the men's singles draw: Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Jack Draper. The women's singles draw, meanwhile, will feature no British player, the first time since 2009 something like this is happening at a Grand Slam tournament.
By contrast, Argentina, a country that doesn't have nearly as much resources as Great Britain, had 13 men playing in the qualification rounds at Roland Garros and will boast a 10-man contingent in the main draw.
The gulf in results, according to British No. 2 Evans, is the Lawn Tennis Association's lack of interest in getting fans involved in the sport, as well as their ineffective scholarship program.
Speaking to the Guardian, the World No. 24 pointed out that much of the scholarship is aimed at players at the top, giving them the lion's share of the funding, when instead, it should be going towards helping players at the grassroots level.
“Argentina got 12 [actually 13] men in the qualies here. They have no money, they have nothing. Not a federation basically,” Evans said. “We need to make people love tennis, get involved, but if you’re putting five people on PSP, what hope is there for the others?
It’s just heartbreaking that a guy next door to you is getting 70 grand or something, but you’re better than him. But a guy with these stats is telling you: ‘No, no, he’s better,'” he added.
The 33-year-old acknowledged the absence of former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who had to withdraw from the French Open after undergoing multiple surgeries on her wrist and ankles. Evans felt that the LTA simply got lucky to have the 20-year-old Grand Slam winner, as her presence helped distract fans from how poorly other British players were ranked.
“They’ve been lucky they had a grand slam champion and she’s a very good tennis player but the rankings don’t lie, do they? Men’s or women’s, the rankings don’t lie,” Evans said. “Men’s, not many of us playing qualies, not many main draw. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but there’s way further to go than just the top players. It’s from the bottom up.”
Another British Grand Slam winner missing from the 2023 Roland Garros is Andy Murray, who withdrew from the event to prioritize the grass swing and his upcoming home Slam at Wimbledon.
"I think the grass last year really helped paper over some cracks as well" - Dan Evans
Dan Evans further admitted during the interview that the grass swing last year, where several British players scored noteworthy wins, helped "paper over the cracks" as well. However, he believed that the same could not be repeated in 2023 and felt the LTA will have to do some "soul searching" after that.
“I think the grass last year really helped paper over some cracks as well. There were some good results but if you look at the players who did pretty good on the grass last year, who were wildcards etc, rankings don’t lie. After the grass, there will be a bit of soul searching I imagine,” Evans said. “After their holidays and after the grass, obviously.”
In his Paris opener, Evans will lock horns with Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis on Sunday.