Dan Evans was forced to retire during his Shanghai Challenger clash with Filip Peliwo after taking a medical time out. The Briton was in the third and deciding set of the last-16 encounter when he needed to call time on the match.
Evans is currently ranked at No. 136 in the world and failed to qualify for this year’s Australian Open, French Open and US Open. But he did appear at Wimbledon after being handed a wildcard at the All England Club. The 35-year-old, who teamed up with Andy Murray for the men’s doubles at the Paris Olympics last year, came through his opening match against fellow Briton Jay Clarke at SW19 but was dispatched by Novak Djokovic in the second round.
Evans has been forced to play most of his tennis at Challenger events this year and went up against Peliwo in China after overcoming Linang Xiao in the first round.
Evans dropped the opening set 6-4 against his Polish opponent but rallied to win the second 6-3.
However, the veteran reportedly complained of dizziness and mentioned that he had a headache during his medical time out in the third set, with the players neck and neck at 2-2. His opponent was said to be unhappy with the delay, with Evans ultimately forced to bring the match to an end.
Evans’ withdrawal means Peliwo has progressed to the quarter-finals, where he will take on Italian Giulio Zeppieri.
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Evans, who rose to a career-high world ranking of No. 21 just over two years ago, has appeared in 33 Grand Slams during his career.
His best-ever performance at a Major came in 2021 when he reached the fourth round of the US Open before losing to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev.
And following his clash with Djokovic at Wimbledon two months ago, the star explained: “It’s no secret that it’s been a little difficult at times, only on the tennis court – and I need to make that clear because obviously a lot of people have asked is everything okay – just on the tennis court.
“I have to take all the positives. I know I lost in the second round and you want to go further but you’ve got to keep everything in perspective.
“These last few weeks have been positive compared to where I was.
“I’ve got to get back on the road and play the lower-level tournaments and try to get my ranking back up because my level is still there, but the ranking doesn’t match the level at the moment. And that’s what I’ll go away and do.”