UP AND AT THEM 

‘Pathetic’ – Dan Evans lashes out at tennis rival and tells him ‘wake up and play’ after seeing open letter to ATP

Scroll down to see the letter to the ATP in full

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DAN EVANS branded tennis colleague Alejandro Davidovich Fokina as “pathetic” after the Spaniard moaned about having to play at 11am.

Davidovich Fokina, 26, was scheduled first on to face Jakub Mensik at the National Bank Open in Toronto.

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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has complained about the ATPCredit: EPA

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Dan Evans had no time for the Spaniard’s moaningCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
The world No19 was upset with his assignment, with all other courts beginning play at 12:30pm.

Davidovich Fokina subsequently posted an open letter to the ATP via his Instagram story.

He revealed his “disappointment and frustration” at having to wake up “extremely early” for his match – pointing to the fact that he is staying a one hour drive from the tournament venue.

Man of the people Evans, however, was having none of Davidovich Fokina’s complaints.

Reposting his colleague’s open letter to his own Instagram page, former British No1 Evans wrote: “Wake up an play.

“The world wakes up an works 9-5 even 8-6 pathetic.”

Fans on Reddit loved Evans’ response, with one commenting: “Dan Evans: Working class hero.”

While a second wrote: “He’s a real one for this.”

Davidovich Fokina’s complaint in full

Good afternoon,

Today I want to share my disappointment and frustration with the ATP. Tomorrow, every match starts at 12:30 except ours, which has been scheduled at 11am. We’re staying one hour from the club, which means we have to wake up extremely early to arrive in good condition.

We’ve asked for a change, but the answer was that everything has already been sold, tickets, TV rights, etc. Once again, it’s clear that players are not taken into consideration.

Today it happened to others, tomorrow it’s me, and from the day after, all matches return to 12:30. There are plenty of available courts, yet we’re the only ones playing at 11:00.

The ATP always promises they’ll fix things, but nothing ever changes. This isn’t the first time it happens, and when you’re inside, you realise it’s not as great as it looks from the outside.

All the best,

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

A third reasoned: “Evans is right. Sometimes, being flexible doesn’t hurt.”

And another added: “He’s getting paid literally tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to show up at 11am and play a tennis match.”

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Davidovich Fokina reached the final in Washington last week.

During his run he defeated Wimbledon semi-finalist Taylor Fritz in a match that did not finish until 1am.

The charismatic star held several match points in the final but went on to lose a heartbreaker to Alex de Minaur, leaving him still without a tour-level title.

Evans, meanwhile, is looking to rebuild his ranking aged 35 having fallen out of the world’s top 200 earlier this year.

The Brummie star is back up to No129, having reached the third round in Washington last week.

Ahead of Wimbledon, Evans wiped away tears as he recounted his struggles this year.

He said: “It’s not the matches. It’s when you feel like you’ve let people down, that’s the tougher thing about it.

“You’re not used to losing, that’s probably more of the thing. I don’t worry about retirement but it’s just different isn’t it?

“To start losing, it’s scary at the end of the day, to know sometimes you’re not good enough.

“It’s not an easy thing in sport to not be good enough. I don’t know why I’m so emotional about it.”