2023-05-26 16:36:17
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May-11 June |
| Coverage: Live text and radio commentaries of selected matches across BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website and app |
Emma Raducanu’s victory at the US Open papered over the cracks in the state of British tennis, says Dan Evans.
Evans, seeded 24th, is one of only three Britons playing in the French Open singles main draws, alongside Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper.
With Raducanu injured, there are no British players in the women’s singles.
“There’s enough people playing junior tennis. We just don’t help them in my opinion. It’s a scarce draw, isn’t it?” said the British men’s number two.
Evans, 33, has long been a vocal critic of the pathway in British tennis and said the nation was “lucky” to see Raducanu emerge as a major champion in 2021.
Asked if Raducanu’s win as a teenage qualifier in New York “papered over cracks”, Evans said: “Is that a rhetorical question? Yes.
“She’s a very good tennis player but the rankings don’t lie, do they?
“I don’t want to sound like a broken record. But there is way further to go than just the top players. It’s from the bottom up.”
Britain has four players ranked in the men’s world top 60, although Andy Murray is not joining Norrie, Evans and Draper at Roland Garros following deciding to focus on the grass-court season.
Raducanu, 20, is also missing from the clay-court Grand Slam following surgeries on her wrists and ankle.
Raducanu has recently dropped to 106th in the world, meaning there are no British players inside the top 100 of the women’s rankings.
Seven women lost in qualifying at Roland Garros – Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Heather Watson, Lily Miyazaki and Francesca Jones – as did Ryan Peniston, Liam Broady and Jan Choinski in the men’s event.
Speaking at Roland Garros on Friday, Evans added. “Argentina got 13 men in the qualifying here. They have no money, they have nothing. Not a federation basically.
“We need to make people love tennis and get involved. That’s what I think we need to do: get a bigger pool, pool it all in and get going.
“It’s simple. It’s simple maths.”
In response to Evans’ comments, the Lawn Tennis Association acknowledged the disappointing results in French Open qualifying but insisted it is “making longer term progress.
“There is more work to do before we consistently have the numbers we would like to see across all levels,” said the governing body.
“That’s why we are investing in our junior players, staging more international competitions in this country and supporting players development whatever is the best route for them to reach the top of the game, including both professional and the college system routes.
“Of course we need to go further and want players moving up the rankings – but we do believe we are heading in the right direction.”
Since returning from a drugs ban in 2018 following testing positive for cocaine, Evans has put his partying lifestyle behind him and urged others to dedicate themselves more to the sport.
Evans reached a career-high ranking of 22nd aged 31 and also won the first ATP title of his career in 2021.
“You’ve got to work hard,” he said.
“I know what it’s like to not work hard and what you get from that and I know what it’s like to work hard and get decent rewards.
“I’m not sitting here saying I know the answers.
“Put it this way, if you play 20 tournaments a year, you are allowed one bad tournament because you get 19 that count towards your ranking.
“If you play 30, you give yourself a decent chance to have some bad weeks and you’ll also have some good weeks.”
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