Cocaine fool Evans should simply shut up
DAN EVANS is a cheeky chap, apparently. Well, for a man so spectacularly stupid that he blew a year of his tennis career just at the moment when it was finally taking off by testing positive for cocaine, he’s certainly got a nerve. For a man who seemed to be going places but didn’t have what it took to see it through, he’s got a remarkable talent for casual disrespect to others. Forgetting not just his drugs bust but the fact that he is currently the world No 189 and that he lost in the second round of the Australian Open, Evans took it upon himself to lecture Jamie Murray on the dedication it takes to make it in the singles game and voice his opinion that doubles players were the sport’s second-class citizens.
I have no particular desire to damn Evans while he is trying to claw his way back to the mediocrity he once enjoyed because I know many people who like him. But I also know how hard Murray worked to get where he is, how much skill and dedication he and other doubles specialists possess and how good the doubles game is to watch.
When he’s a couple of years down the road from snorting coke and when he’s got a place in the world’s top 10, maybe then Evans might think his opinions on the shortcomings of others will carry some weight.
Maybe then he’ll think he can try and belittle other players without worrying about the consequences. Maybe then he’ll be able to forget that he was 26 when he failed his drugs test, not some kid who didn’t know any better. Maybe then he’ll appreciate that players like Murray are widely admired and liked for the enjoyment they have brought to so many spectators, for what they have achieved in the sport, and the humility with which they have achieved it.
Until that time arrives, maybe Evans should bear in mind he is currently world No 1 in the ranks of men’s tennis boneheads and keep his mouth shut about people who are smarter and more dedicated than him.