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'Cocaine is a life-ruiner' – Evans set to return after drugs ban

  • Posted: Apr 28, 2018

“If you saw the ruins it left behind, you’d be pretty confident I won’t take that drug again.”

Last April, a month after reaching a career-high ranking of 41, Britain’s Dan Evans failed a drugs test at an ATP event in Barcelona. He had taken cocaine out of competition four days earlier.

This weekend, the 27-year-old will attempt to qualify for the ATP Challenger Tour event in Glasgow, having been awarded a wildcard by the Lawn Tennis Association on his return from suspension.

Evans is full of regret.

“It’s a shocking drug, and it’s not just in sport – it’s terrible in life. It’s a life-ruiner,” said Evans at the Scotstoun Tennis Centre.

“It’s like drink-driving – everyone knows you shouldn’t drink-drive. I took it. I knew beforehand I shouldn’t have. It’s illegal for one, never mind me being a sportsman.

“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done. It’s a shocking thing to do, it’s let down many people. Not just that, it’s brought unwanted press to tennis.

“God knows what some of the greats of the game thought when that sort of thing comes into the headlines.”

Evans could have faced a four-year ban but that was reduced by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) because cocaine is not performance-enhancing and it was taken out of competition.

The ITF said Evans “promptly admitted his violation” and it accepted his account that the substance was only still in his system because “leftover” cocaine had accidentally mixed with permitted medication in the “same pocket of his washbag”.

‘There’s been some terrible moments’

Evans says he did not play tennis for eight and a half months, and left his racquet at his parents’ house so he was not haunted by the sight of it.

He returned to training in late February, and says he was “terrible” in a “horrible” first session back.

Evans has passed much of the past year on the golf course, and away from social media. There was a holiday in Marbella, which he says was low-key, but he spent most of the time in Cheltenham with his girlfriend Aleah, sometimes struggling to fill his days.

“I was saying to my girlfriend how long a working day actually is: 9 to 5 is a long, long time,” he said. “Daytime TV is not good.

“It wasn’t easy, there’s some terrible moments in those nine months. At the start I was heartbroken not to be playing tennis.

“There isn’t that much you can do in the day when other people are working.”

Something else Evans found difficult was telling friends and family about his indiscretion.

“It’s just a terrible conversation, whoever it’s with,” he said.

“There’s that many people that support you, even if it’s a text at the end of the match, or they stay up when you’re playing in America and are knackered for work the next day.

“The embarrassment you put your girlfriend’s mum through, her parents, that’s not what they want their daughter round, is it? And then you’ve got your mum at work, or my sister at work.

“It’s not a situation I hope anyone will be in again.”

Dan Evans factfile
Born 23 May 1990, Birmingham
Turned pro 2006
Best Grand Slam performances Australian Open: 4R (2017); French Open: 1R (2017); Wimbledon: 3R (2016); US Open: 3R (2013) and (2016)
ATP Tour titles 0
ATP Tour finals 1 (Sydney 2017)
Career prize money £1,053,266
2017 prize money £319,132
Highest world ranking 41 – March 2017

Evans, who looked to be in good shape in practice on Friday, is without a coach and has not decided on his schedule for the next few weeks.

He will face compatriot Ed Corrie, the world number 427, on Saturday.

Evans is unranked, and admits to many doubts, but believes he can fight his way back into the world’s top 50.

“If my body holds up, I think so, unless the game has considerably moved on in a year,” he said. “Seeing the older guys do well, that was the only thing I was really looking out for when I wasn’t playing.

“I had doubts every day and I still have doubts now, and there will still be doubts until there are two digits next to my name.

“A year’s a long time, especially when I was doing nothing. I probably won’t feel stress like I have in the last year. Winning tennis matches, or losing tennis matches, won’t be such a big deal.”

Evans would not be drawn on whether he had ever taken drugs before last April, but says he has been tested four times since returning to training at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham.

He has also told his story in two videos, which the LTA will distribute to players as part of its drug education programme.

His wildcard for Glasgow was awarded after he passed a range of physical, medical and nutritional tests set by the LTA.

The organisation’s chief executive, Scott Lloyd, says further support will be forthcoming as long as Evans keeps his side of the bargain.

“If he continues to do that, then we want to help him make that road back to the top of the game,” said Lloyd,

“We have zero tolerance to doping, but what I think Dan has shown us thus far is that he is absolutely willing and trying to do that to the best of his ability.

“He needs to earn his way back into the tour, and I think he wants to demonstrate that, too – I genuinely do.

“This is not about handouts, this is about providing the opportunity.”

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Resilient Goffin Hoping To Stun Rafa Once More

  • Posted: Apr 27, 2018

Resilient Goffin Hoping To Stun Rafa Once More

Belgian looking to win back-to-back matches against Nadal

All of the numbers, including their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (2-1 Nadal), suggest Rafael Nadal will advance to his 11thBarcelona Open Banc Sabadell final on Saturday, when he faces fourth seed David Goffin in the semi-finals.

Nadal has won 17 consecutive matches and 42 consecutive sets on clay, dating back to his 2017 Rome quarter-final loss to Dominic Thiem. The Spaniard also didn’t drop a set against Goffin during their two clay-court FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups (2017 Monte-Carlo, 2017 Madrid). And Nadal has won 10 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell titles.

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But don’t be surprised if Goffin challenges and breaks at least one of Nadal’s streaks during their fourth FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup.

Goffin beat Nadal the last time they played, during a tight opener at the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-4. So the Belgian should carry plenty of confidence onto Pista Rafa Nadal.

Watch Highlights: Goffin Earns First Win At The O2

Goffin also doesn’t play your typical clay-court game. Instead of standing feet behind the baseline and going for long rallies, the Belgian tries to hug the baseline and take the ball early, which could apply some unique pressure to Nadal, who reached the semi-final with a 6-0, 7-5 win against Slovakia’s Martin Klizan.

Goffin’s road to his first Barcelona semi-final has been much more complicated. The No. 10 player in the ATP Rankings has lost the opening set in all three of his matches, but he’s ran away in each of the three deciders as well.

Watch: Goffin’s My Story

The scores of his deciding sets so far in Barcelona have been 6-2 vs. Marcel Granollers, 6-0 vs. Karen Khachanov and 6-2 vs. Roberto Bautista Agut. In other words, the Belgian is again showing the resiliency that helped him make his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals last year.

In 2017, Goffin led the Tour by winning 14 times after dropping the first set. His deciding-set record of 22-6 was also an ATP World Tour best. So far this season, according to his FedEx ATP Win/Loss Record, Goffin is 4-4 when losing the first set and 3-1 in deciding sets.

Read More: The Most Telling Stats of 2017

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Nadal made to work for 17th straight win on clay

  • Posted: Apr 27, 2018

Rafael Nadal continued his clay-court domination with a 6-0 7-5 win over Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan in the Barcelona Open quarter-finals.

The Spanish world number one, 31, extended his Open Era record to 42 successive sets won on his favoured surface.

The 10-time champion will play Belgium’s David Goffin in the semis.

Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, 19, beat world number seven Dominic Thiem 6-2 6-1 for the biggest win of his career.

World number 63 Tsitsipas punished an error-strewn display to set up a semi-final against Spanish world number 11 Pablo Carreno Busta, who also caused an upset by beating second seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

Goffin beat Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 in a match that lasted two-and-a-half hours.

Nadal saved three set points against Klizan, who beat Novak Djokovic in the second round.

Klizan, ranked 140th in the world, was bidding to become the first player to beat Djokovic and Nadal in the same clay-court tournament.

After winning only 13 points in a 31-minute opening set, Klizan rallied in the second and became the first player since Thiem last May to take five games off Nadal in a set.

But he could not hold on to the advantage when attempting to serve out the set as Nadal broke back for 5-5 and won the next two games to seal his 17th clay-court win in a row.

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Federer Reflects On First Trip To Zambia

  • Posted: Apr 27, 2018

Federer Reflects On First Trip To Zambia

Swiss legend spent the week working on the Roger Federer foundation

Roger Federer only just left Zambia after a visiting programmes supported by his self-named foundation this week. But he’s already looking forward to returning to the African nation.

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Federer visited educational programmes and talked with students and parents who benefit from foundation-funded projects. He also made time for some fun, kicking around the football and dancing with boys and girls.

View More Photos From Federer’s Visit To Zambia

“The welcome here in Zambia has been wonderful. The people have been super, super, friendly. They could have not been nicer to me and to the team of the Roger Federer Foundation,” Federer said. “So when you feel this way, of course, you want to come back as soon as possible.”

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Top seed Halep suffers surprise quarter-final defeat in Stuttgart Open

  • Posted: Apr 27, 2018

World number one Simona Halep suffered a surprise defeat at the Stuttgart Open as opponent Coco Vandeweghe reached her first WTA Tour semi-final on clay.

Romania’s Halep, who will still retain her ranking, lost 6-4 6-1 to the 26-year-old American.

Vandeweghe lost to Halep in her only previous clay court quarter-final, but was untroubled in a comfortable display on her least favoured surface.

The world number 16 will play France’s Caroline Garcia in the last four.

Garcia, ranked seventh in the world, fought back from a set and 3-0 down to earn a 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-2 win over Ukrainian third seed Elina Svitolina.

Former world number one Karolina Pliskova meets reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko later on Friday, with Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit facing Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the other quarter-final.

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Nadal Forced To Rally In Barcelona

  • Posted: Apr 27, 2018

Nadal Forced To Rally In Barcelona

Spaniard will meet Goffin or Bautista Agut in SF

Rafael Nadal endured his most serious test of the young clay-court season on Friday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. But the Spaniard fought through – coming back from a break down in the second set – to reach his 11th Barcelona semi-final (11-1 in QF).

The No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings extended his clay-court sets win streak to 42 and his clay-court match-wins streak to 17 against Martin Klizan of Slovakia. Nadal saved three set points in the second set and ousted the left-hander 6-0, 7-5 on Pista Rafa Nadal.

The 31-year-old Spaniard, with a chance to play for his 11th Barcelona title on the line, will next face fourth seed David Goffin, who beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2. Goffin has come back from a set down in all three of his matches this week in Barcelona. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-1, but Goffin won their most-recent contest at the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals.

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Read More: Goffin Stuns Rafa In London

Nadal dominated the opener against Klizan, breaking the left-hander three times and dropping only four points on serve (12/16). The Spaniard was racing all over the court and attacking the Slovakian, who had beaten Novak Djokovic and Feliciano Lopez of Spain to make the quarter-finals.

But in the second set, Klizan, a three-time clay-court titlist, found his form, breaking to start and mixing in drop shots against Nadal. At 5-4, Klizan had the set on his racquet.

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That alone marked an accomplishment: Not since the 2017 Rome quarter-finals last May, when Dominic Thiem beat Nadal 6-4, 6-3, had someone won so many games against Nadal during a set on clay.

But Klizan couldn’t force a decider. Three set points came and went, and Nadal delivered a series of fist pumps and shouts after Klizan lifted a forehand wide on break point. The Spaniard raced through the final two games, prolonging his streaks and his stay in Barcelona.

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