Google News Daniel Evans disappointed ATP consulted only big names - Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic
by DZEVAD MESIC
British tennis player Daniel Evans voiced his displeasure over how the ATP handled the Wimbledon situation. Evans, 32, felt the ATP only consulted big name players such as Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic before making the decision to remove ranking points from The Championships.
What had been speculated for weeks, became a reality last Friday when the ATP announced the removal of ranking points from 2022 Wimbledon. Several players have voiced their displeasure as some have been left without a chance to defend their points from 2021 Wimbledon, while some just don't see a point in playing a tournament without any ranking points reward.
Evans says he wishes the ATP sought a more player input before making their decision. "I would like to have more of player input, but that wasn't to be. But, yeah, you know, like most things, the bigger, better players were asked, and there's quite a lot of other players on the tour as long as well as Rafa, Novak.
So, which is disappointing, in my opinion, from the ATP," Evans said, per Sportskeeda.
Evans defends Wimbledon
The ATP felt Wimbledon's decision to impose player bans on Russian and Belarusian players was discriminatory.
The ATP sanctioned Wimbledon because they wanted to send a clear message that discrimination will never be tolerated in tennis. "I also don't like it when the players are saying it's a disgrace that Wimbledon -- you know, obviously a lot of players have opinions, but don't know the ins and outs of the issue.
So, you know, everybody's got an opinion on everything, as per usual, but it's a difficult one from both parties," Evans said. Evans concluded by stating that the decision the ATP made was made from the people on the ATP board, not the players.
"I don't think it's a players' decision. This isn't a players' decision. The powers that be need to make this decision, which is fair enough. But to hear it, it's going to the way of no points, through press, et cetera, is not ideal from the ATP, in my opinion. Again, my opinion," Evans added.