Dan Evans in agony as injury forces Brit to retire and leaves Davis Cup in doubt
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British tennis star Dan Evans has seen his Davis Cup spot cast into doubt after injury forced him to retire from his match against Frances Tiafoe at the Vienna Open on Tuesday. The Brit had been leading 4-1 in the first set but felt a sharp pain in his right calf and immediately called for medical attention before handing the American a walkover into the last 16.
Evans was unable to put pressure on his right leg after the ball went behind him, as he hobbled to the side of the court to sit down and get help from the physio in worrying scenes in Austria.
Evans had recently been named in the Davis Cup squad to face Serbia next month by captain Leon Smith, but his participation must now be in serious doubt after pulling up with a muscle injury.
He was able to shake Tiafoe’s hand after calling an end to the match but looked visibly distressed at the Wiener Stadthalle after just five games.
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Evans was seen telling the physio that he could not walk and it became clear that he was not going to be able to continue against Tiafoe, though his bigger concern will be competing for Great Britain in the Davis Cup Finals.
He was instrumental in helping them qualify for the quarter-finals where he and Andy Murray will be part of a team taking on Novak Djokovic and co, if Davis can recover from this injury in time.
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Evans has just under a month to recover from this calf injury, with Team GB set to take on Serbia on November 23, with the semi-finals and final taking place later that week in Malaga.
He dragged the team to a stunning comeback victory over France in Manchester to reach the knockout stages, delivering in both singles and doubles matches in front of a crowd of 13,000 – a tournament record in Britain.
The 33-year-old was recently named alongside Murray, Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper and Neal Skupski by skipper Smith and will be desperate to compete in Spain.
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