Dan Evans’ singles career concluded with a second-round defeat in Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton, after play had earlier been halted by a temporary power outage that disabled the electronic line calling system.
The 36-year-old Briton, who had previously announced his intention to retire after this year’s tournament, was defeated 7-5 6-0 by Australian 28th seed Tristan Schoolkate.
Evans had not been granted a wildcard for the singles main draw but is still set to compete in the men’s doubles alongside Henry Searle. His final attempt to reach the main singles draw concluded after a challenging encounter against Schoolkate.
The match was suspended following the first set, with the event at the Lawn Tennis Association’s National Tennis Centre paused at 12.15pm. Play eventually resumed around 1.30pm.
The disruption was attributed to a power loss, with BBC commentator Annabel Croft referencing the “swelteringly hot” temperatures as a potential cause.
The tournament is currently operating under an extreme heat weather warning, and while the heat is suspected to be a factor in the outage, a full investigation will be undertaken.
A spokesperson for the All England Club confirmed: “There was a temporary loss of power to part of our qualifying venue, which meant that the electronic line calling system could not function. Power has now been restored and play has resumed.”
Cheered on by a partisan home crowd, Evans was narrowly beaten in the first set. After the unexpected delay, Schoolkate returned to dominate the second set, securing victory with an early double service break.
Reflecting on his performance, Evans told BBC Sport: “Today I was good… I thought I played pretty well today, but Tristan was too good.”
He admitted the break “took the sting out of the match a bit,” adding, as quoted by the Telegraph: “I went in the ice bath very quickly (during the break), and then had a shower, got changed. It hasn’t happened to me before but it’s just so hot, isn’t it? I guess something happened, but yes, a first in my career.”
World number 147 Schoolkate paid tribute to Evans, a member of Great Britain’s 2015 Davis Cup-winning team.
“Dan is a phenomenal player and I wish him all the best for after his career,” Schoolkate said. “I have looked up to guys like him for a long time. So much of the tennis today is the same old, same old. Watching him, the way he jinks it around, his slices are amazing, he’s a great competitor and so many young kids can learn a lot from Dan.”
In other qualifying results, Billy Harris and Oliver Tarvet both advanced to the final round, defeating Hungary’s Zsombor Piros and Canada’s Alexis Galarneau respectively. Max Basing also progressed with a 7-5 6-2 win over German Tom Gentzsch.
However, Paul Jubb lost 6-4 3-6 6-1 to Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera of Chile, and Esther Adeshina was defeated 6-2 6-2 by France’s Harmony Tan in the women’s event, another match affected by the delay.
