The All England Club awarded Dan Evans a Wimbledon doubles wild card on Tuesday, giving the 36-year-old one final appearance at Wimbledon before he retires after this year's grass-court season.
Dan Evans and Wimbledon Doubles
Evans did not receive a singles wild card and will therefore appear at Wimbledon only in the doubles draw. He reached a career-high ranking of world No. 21 in 2023 but has barely played for 10 months because of injury; last month he lost to Daniel Jade, then world No. 1447, in French Open qualifying and subsequently failed to get through for Ilkley and the Ilkley Challenger and the HSBC Championships.
Henry Searle Joins Evans
Evans' partner at Wimbledon will be Henry Searle, a 20-year-old ranked world No. 354. Evans worked with Searle on an informal basis during his rehabilitation from injury, and the pairing gives Evans a domestic partner for his final tournament appearances rather than a singles route back into the draw.
All England Club Decision
Evans addressed the selection outcome directly over the weekend, saying: "It would have been a classy gesture to give me a wild card, but obviously that was lacking on this occasion." He has also been vocal about coaching standards and player pathways, telling The Tennis Podcast: "Where a lot of them (British players) should be is (top) 100. I think the coaching in this country now for a few years has been not going in the right direction," and adding, "Obviously there’s other reasons — club coaching, you can earn more money. Coaching players at that ranking, you don’t earn great money, let’s be honest. You have to do it for the love and trying to get them there. So I just think, there’s things I’ve learned along the way which could help."
On his own training methods he said: "I didn’t look at one piece of data in my whole career. Never wore a heart-rate monitor, neither wore any of it, and I did alright. It’s really not that complicated. You can make it complicated, but you can make it pretty simple as well." The All England Club's choice to award a doubles wild card but not a singles slot sits against a run of limited match results and extended inactivity that selection panels typically weigh when allocating discretionary places.
Evans' career includes being part of the British Davis Cup-winning team in 2015 and an early setback when, as an 18-year-old, he had his funding removed by the LTA after going out drinking the night before the Wimbledon boys' doubles event; on that episode he said: "It all helped me, to be honest." He has said he would like to coach in retirement, signaling a shift from player to mentor once the grass-court season concludes.
Why did the All England Club choose a doubles wild card for Evans but not a singles wild card?
