‘F***ing Embarrassment to the Sport’: Dan Evans Blasts Out on Court as Aslan Karatsev Takes 5-Minute Bathroom Break at ATP Sydney

British No.2 and World No.26, Dan Evans, had an interesting outing today in the Sydney International tournament. He was playing against Aslan Karatsev of Russia, the top seed, in the semi-final. During the match, the British player had an outburst with the authority and the chair umpire complaining against his opponent. He used some harsh words against Karatsev for taking a long bathroom break. 

Dan Evans loses his temper in Sydney

The semi-final of the Sydney International tournament saw some outstanding tennis. Especially the second set between Dan Evans and Aslan Karatsev, where Evans saved three match points to take the set in a tie-break. However, in the 3rd set, the Russian took a lengthy bathroom break. After the British player was broken in the third set, he started screaming at his opponent in a series of outbursts. 

“That’s a f***ing embarrassment to the sport, embarrassing. F**k him,” Evans screamed.

“You DIDN’T apply the rules. You didn’t!”

Evans aimed some words at the supervisor as well. He said, “You sit there every week and do nothing.”

“No one on this tour plays tennis without running. You sit there on your walkie-talkie, why do you have that? I want an answer. Have you got an answer? How long was he off the court? Tell me, I want to know,” Evans continued. 

The British player didn’t stop there and sarcastically said, “Five minutes to change his shorts and t-shirt? Five minutes? Good effort.” 

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Eventually, Evans got a code violation for unsportsmanlike behavior, and Karatsev won the match by 6-3,7-6,6-3 to move to the final where he will face 3-time Grand Slam Champion, Andy Murray. However, this behavior doesn’t look good for Evans and he would definitely like to forget this one as soon as possible.

This was the latest in a long list of controversies in tennis around bathroom breaks, which even prompted a rule change from the ATP recently.  

What’s next for Evans?

Earlier today, Evans’ fellow compatriot Andy Murray beat the big American Riley Opelka in another semi-final by 6-7,6-4,6-4. They could have faced each other in the final; instead, Evans will now have to cool his head and move forward to the Australian Open.

Interestingly, Murray was at the heart of another such incident at the US Open 2021, where Stefanos Tsitsipas took a lengthy bathroom break.  

The 24th seed British player will start his journey on 18th January against David Goffin of Belgium. It will be interesting to see whether he can keep his head calm and move to the next round.

How far will Evans go in the Australian Open? Let us know in the comments.

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