British tennis player Dan Evans' singles career has drawn to a close following a second-round defeat in Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton. The 36-year-old, who had previously announced his intention to retire after this year's tournament, was beaten 7-5 6-0 by Australian 28th seed Tristan Schoolkate in a match marred by an unexpected power outage.
The disruption occurred after the first set, with play at the Lawn Tennis Association's National Tennis Centre suspended at 12:15 BST. The temporary power loss disabled the electronic line calling system, leading to a break of over an hour before play resumed around 13:30 BST. A spokesperson for the All England Club confirmed the outage, stating that power had since been restored and an investigation would be undertaken, with the "swelteringly hot" temperatures cited by BBC commentator Annabel Croft as a potential factor.
Cheered on by a supportive home crowd, Evans narrowly lost the first set before the unscheduled delay. Following the resumption of play, Schoolkate returned to the court with renewed vigour, dominating the second set and securing victory with an early double service break. Reflecting on the match, Evans told BBC Sport, "Today I was good... I thought I played pretty well today, but Tristan was too good." He acknowledged that the break "took the sting out of the match a bit," adding that he went into an ice bath during the pause, describing the incident as a "first in my career."
Despite the end of his singles journey, Evans will still compete at Wimbledon in the men's doubles alongside compatriot Henry Searle. World number 147 Schoolkate paid tribute to Evans, a member of Great Britain’s 2015 Davis Cup-winning team. "Dan is a phenomenal player and I wish him all the best for after his career," Schoolkate stated, praising Evans' unique playing style and competitive spirit as an example for young players.
In other qualifying results, British hopes continued with Billy Harris and Oliver Tarvet both advancing to the final round of qualifying. Harris defeated Hungary’s Zsombor Piros, while Tarvet overcame Canada’s Alexis Galarneau. Max Basing also progressed with a 7-5 6-2 win against German Tom Gentzsch. However, Paul Jubb lost to Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera of Chile, and Esther Adeshina was defeated by France’s Harmony Tan in the women’s event, another match affected by the power delay.
Source: BBC Sport, The Telegraph