Britain's most outspoken tennis star rips into Wimbledon bosses after crashing out

Dan Evans took aim at the Wimbledon organisers after crashing out in the first round on Wednesday evening.

Evans was beaten 6-2 7-5 6-3 by Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo on Court 12 after the match dragged into a second day at the All England Club. The British No.3 had started his match at 7.45pm on Tuesday, only for it to be stopped due to failing light and slippery conditions.

He had been vocal in his complaints because he was worried he might aggravate the knee injury he sustained at Queens Club. "I've already been hurt on a wet court this season, I'm not willing to do it again," Evans told the umpire, before fuming at the court supervisor: “You don't care about the players."

Play was eventually stopped midway through the second set, but when he returned on Wednesday things didn’t improve. Play was delayed by two hours due to drizzle and Court 12 was slippery, prompting Evans to hit out at the organisers in his post-match press conference.

“It's sort of the second time it's happened over the grass where I've ended up going on pretty late because of the weather, which has been, yeah, frustrating,” he began. “It's just part and parcel of it. Obviously, my first concern is to be safe after what happened [at Queens].

“Obviously, that grass court wasn't safe where I slipped, I don't think. I didn't think the court was playable last night for the large majority of the time we were on court. The powers that be in the fancy jackets didn't agree with me and we carried on.”

Evans then added: “Around 5-2 in the first set, I wasn't very happy. Obviously the people, the ATP supervisor or ITF supervisor, whatever it is, they were happy with the court, so you sort of play on. Yeah, in any normal time, I would have been probably fine with it. But obviously I know the sort of feeling, which is not a good one, to slip quite badly.”

Evans said he felt “like a spectator taking part” against Tabilo but he will still take part in the men’s doubles alongside Henry Searle. After that, he will focus on the Olympic Games, where he will play in the doubles alongside Andy Murray.

“I'll have to take some time after the tournament to work on obviously my knee, yeah, getting it stronger,” he said. “I didn't get much time from when I did it to do the work it needs after slipping and the damage that occurred. But, yeah, it's not ideal. It's a work in progress.”