Tennis: British Veteran Evans Awarded Wimbledon Wildcard

Former British number one Dan Evans has been given a wildcard into the men’s singles draw at Wimbledon later this month.

Evans, 35, recently regained his place in the world’s top 200 and the news comes two days after the former world number 21 earned his biggest win in two years.

Two-time women’s singles champion Petra Kvitova has also received a wildcard, which are given to players who are not ranked high enough for direct entry.

Czech former world number two Kvitova is the only non-British player named in the initial batch of wildcards announced on Wednesday.

Teenagers Mika Stojsavljevic – the US Open girls’ champion last year – and Hannah Klugman – the French Open girls’ finalist earlier this month – have also been given entry into the main draw.

Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart, Francesca Jones and Heather Watson will join them, but French Open semi-finalist Lois Boisson is a notable omission.

The grass-court Grand Slam tournament begins at the All England Club on 30 June.

Evans rewarded after refusing to ‘ask’ for wildcard
A stalwart of the British game, Evans said last year he did not want to be “coming back to ask” for a Wimbledon wildcard.

But the world number 199 has been rewarded by the All England Club after continuing to persevere on the lower-tier ATP Challenger Tour.

Evans has insisted he believes he still has the level to break back into the world’s top 100 – which is good enough for direct entry into the sport’s four Grand Slam tournaments.

On Monday, he demonstrated his faith was well placed in an impressive win over 13th-ranked Frances Tiafoe in the Queen’s first round.

“I’m the first to harp on about the wildcards. It’s not just about one week or one match. It’s about what you do 52 weeks of the year,” Evans said after beating former US Open semi-finalist Tiafoe.

“Tennis is not just about the grass court season in Britain. It’s great that we’ve got an amazing set of events, but there is other tournaments.

“I haven’t been good enough at those other tournaments, but I’ve still been professional, still train day in, day out.”

Who else has received a wildcard?
Seven British players – Jack Draper, Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Jacob Fearnley, Cameron Norrie and Billy Harris – are all ranked high enough to receive direct entry into the 128-player singles draws.

On Wednesday, wildcards were given to seven British men’s players with one spot to be confirmed over the next fortnight.

Men’s singles wildcards: Jay Clarke, Oliver Crawford, Dan Evans, George Loffhagen, Johannus Monday, Jack Pinnington Jones, Henry Searle.

All eight wildcards in the women’s draw were announced, with a third promising teenager – 17-year-old Welsh player Mimi Xiu – joining Stojsavljevic and Klugman.

Women’s singles wildcards: Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart, Francesca Jones, Hannah Klugman, Petra Kvitova, Mika Stojsavljevic, Heather Watson, Mimi Xu.

The wildcards are chosen at the discretion of the Wimbledon committee.

“Wildcards are usually offered on the basis of past performance at Wimbledon or to increase British interest,” the tournament said.

Bbc.com