The tennis world is no stranger to mid-match retirements, but what unfolded with Dan Evans has stirred a heated debate across the sport. The British veteran, known for his fiery personality and crafty all-court game, shocked fans and pundits alike when he walked away from a match despite holding the lead.

The 35-year-old Evans made the headlines a few months ago when he defeated America’s Frances Tiafoe in the R32 of the HSBC Championships by 7-5, 6-2. But Brandon Nakashima knocked him out in the very next round. Following that, although he reached the QF of the Eastbourne Open, Evans made an early exit from Wimbledon. His next long run came at the Challenger Huangpu Guangzhou, CN.

Dan Evans defeated the likes of Charles Chen (CHN) and Oliver Crawford (GBR) on his way to the QF. Evans was in form and on course to secure a place in the last four, but who knew that this QF match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo would come to an abrupt ending? Just 8 days ago, he was forced to take a mid-match retirement during his R16 clash against Filip Peliwo at the Challenger event in Shanghai. Now, yet again, his match gets cut short. Evans was leading when he threw his racket to the floor and claimed he’d broken his wrist.

Why did he throw his racket, and what was the anger for, actually? Well, it all started with a disagreement with the umpire over a call. The umpire ruled that Cerundolo had hit the shot just inside the line, while the Brit thought it was out. If it had been called out, Evans would have had a break in the second set. So, in a heated argument, Evans said, “The ball is this far out. You can see it? trying your best again? No! He's [Cerundolo] saying sorry to me; he's saying sorry, you understand that.”

Seeing his angry outburst, a spectator was spotted shouting at Evan. Hearing this, Dan Evans replied to him, saying, “Thank you, you are as well.” The British number 5 was still able to break his opponent, however, despite being taken to deuce.

At 1-0 in the second set, he fell to the floor and said, “I fell on my left hand.” He received a lengthy medical treatment, and following that, the Argentine leveled it 1-1. In the middle of all this, Evans also received a code violation for his angry outbursts towards the umpire. Although he managed to regain a 2-1 lead, Evans was seen struggling a bit as he started playing using only his right hand before throwing his racket in frustration towards the chair.

Later on, he approached the umpire and informed him he’d damaged his hand, and as he walked off, he could be heard saying, “My wrist literally broke.” What a sad ending to an incredible run!

Dan Evans has no intentions of stopping any sooner

This is a big blow for Evans, who had previously dropped as low as 217 in the world rankings, but he was steadily building himself up, rising to 157 in the world. It now remains to be seen just how bad the injury is, and he’ll surely have a scan, and till then we’ll have to wait for an update.

Dan Evans has dealt with his fair share of physical setbacks throughout his career, but this incident is perhaps the most disappointing one, as he was cruising to a victory in this epic duel. But keeping these things aside, it’s quite remarkable to see his hunger for success even at this age. Evans still wants to fight for every point.

In May, during an edition of Second Serve, BBC tennis reporter Jonathan Jurejko had a chat with Evans. During that conversation, he said, “I'm enjoying playing tennis—I'm not enjoying where my ranking is, of course. I'm still trying to be a tennis player, although some people are letting it known they don't think I am.” Having said that, he also claimed, “I'm still trying. I think I will get back inside the top 100, and that's my goal. It will be a pretty good story to have dropped down to such a bad ranking and get back up.” 

So, he feels there is plenty of tennis still left in him. Hopefully Dan Evans gets back to full fitness sooner and makes a strong ending to the 2025 season.

Written by

Sayantan Roy

Edited by

Shrabana Sengupta