| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Date: 28 May-11 June |
| Scope: Live text and radio commentary of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website and app |
Emma Raducanu’s victory at the US Open proved the cracks in the state of British tennis, says Dan Evans.
Evans, seeded 24th, is one of only three Britons playing in the French Open singles main draws, along with Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper.
With Raducanu injured, there are no British players in women’s singles.
“There are enough people playing junior tennis. We just don’t help them in my opinion. It’s scarce, isn’t it?” said British men’s number two.
Evans, 33, has long been a vocal critic of the path of British tennis and said the country was “lucky” to see Raducanu emerge as a major champion in 2021.
Asked if Raducanu’s victory as a teenage qualifier in New York was “papered over the cracks”, Evans said: “Is this a rhetorical question? Yes.
“He’s a very good tennis player but rankings don’t lie, do they?
“I don’t want to sound like a broken record. But there’s a way to go than just the top players. It’s from the bottom up.”
Britain has four players ranked in the men’s top 60, although Andy Murray did not join Norrie, Evans and Draper at Roland Garros after deciding to focus on the grass-court season.
Raducanu, 20, also missed the clay-court Grand Slam after undergoing operations on his wrists and ankles.
Raducanu recently fell to 106th in the world, meaning there are no British players inside the top 100 in the women’s rankings.
Seven women lost in qualifying at Roland Garros – Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Heather Watson, Lily Miyazaki and Francesca Jones – as did Ryan Peniston, Liam Broady and Jan Choinski in the men’s event.
Speaking at Roland Garros on Friday, Evans added. “Argentina got 13 guys in the qualification here. They have no money, they have nothing.
“We need to get people to love tennis and get involved. That’s what I think we need to do: get a bigger pool, pool it all and go.
“It’s simple. Simple maths.”
In response to Evans’ comments, the Lawn Tennis Association acknowledged the disappointing results in French Open qualifying but insisted it was “making longer-term progress.
“There is a lot of work to do before we consistently have the numbers we want to see at all levels,” said the governing body.
“That’s why we invest in our junior players, promote more international competitions in this country and support the development of players regardless of the best route for them to reach the top of the game, including routes in the professional and college system.
“Of course we have to move on and want players to come up the ranks – but we believe we are heading in the right direction.”
Since returning from a drug ban in 2018 after testing positive for cocaine, Evans has put his partying style on the back burner and encouraged others to dedicate themselves to the sport.
Evans reached a career-high ranking of 22nd at the age of 31 and also won the first ATP title of his career in 2021.
“You have to work hard,” he said.
“I know what it’s like not to work hard and what you get out of that and I know what it’s like to work hard and get decent rewards.
“I’m not sitting here saying I know the answers.
“Put it this way, if you play 20 tournaments a year, you’re allowed one bad tournament because you get 19 points in your ranking.
“If you play 30, you give yourself a decent chance to have bad weeks and you’ll have good weeks as well.”
