Dan Evans
Dan Evans retired from professional tennis in July 2026, closing a 20-year career at Wimbledon. The Birmingham-born right-hander reached a career-high of world No. 21, won two ATP Tour titles, and was part of the Great Britain side that won the 2015 Davis Cup, the country’s first in 79 years.
He built all of it on craft rather than power, behind one of the finest slice backhands the tour has seen. The signature result came at Monte Carlo in 2021, where he beat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5 for the biggest win of his career by ranking. He had arrived on a 10-match losing streak on clay, and went on to reach the semi-finals that week.
His last match was a fitting one. Evans played the Wimbledon 2026 men’s doubles alongside Henry Searle, the 20-year-old he had spent the season mentoring, losing 6-2, 6-4 to ninth seeds Hugo Nys and Edouard Roger-Vasselin on Court 15. Andy Murray came to the locker room afterwards.
Player Profile
| Full name | Daniel Thomas Evans |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | 23 May 1990 |
| Nationality | British |
| Height | 5ft 9in / 175cm |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Turned pro | 2006 |
| Coach | Mark Hilton |
| Highest ranking | World No. 21 |
| Grand Slam titles | 0 |
| Retired | July 2026, after Wimbledon |
Career Form & Notable Results
| Wimbledon 2026 | Retired from professional tennis after the men's doubles first round alongside Henry Searle |
|---|---|
| Washington Open 2023 | Championmaiden ATP 500 title |
| Murray River Open 2021 | Championmaiden ATP Tour title, beating Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final |
| US Open 2021 | Fourth round — came from two sets down in a deciding-set tiebreak |
| Monte-Carlo Masters 2021 | Semi-finalbeat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5 on the way, the biggest win of his career by ranking |
Playing Style & Strengths
Evans was a throwback. Where the modern game rewards height and racquet-head speed, he won at 5ft 9in on variety, touch and tactical intelligence, and he did it for two decades.
The cornerstone was the backhand slice, widely rated among the best on tour: a low, skidding shot that sat below the strike zone of taller opponents, disrupted rhythm and dragged them forward into positions they did not want. Off that he built a genuine all-court game, comfortable serve-volleying, happy to take pace off the ball and change direction early. It made him awkward for anyone who needed a predictable target, which is exactly how a player ranked outside the top 20 beats a world No. 1.
The limitation was the other side of the same coin. Against opponents who could hit through the slice or simply overpower him, the margins were thin, and his best surfaces were the quicker ones where his variety bit hardest.