Evans criticises 'lack of class' after Queen's wildcard decision

Britain's Dan Evans says it would have been "a classy gesture" to give him a Queen's wildcard in his penultimate tournament before retirement.

The 36-year-old announced last week he will end his professional career after Wimbledon.

But the announcement was not enough for the British Davis Cup stalwart to be given entry by Queen's organisers into the main draw.

Evans had only played two tournaments in 2026 going into Queen's after a string of injuries and dropped to 244th in the rankings as a result.

Without being granted a place in the main draw, he instead entered qualifying and lost to American sixth seed Marcos Giron in the first round.

Jack Pinnington Jones, Arthur Fery and Toby Samuel - all ranked above Evans and inside the world's top 150 - were given the three wildcards.

"You hope to do enough years of service for your country to maybe get one in your last tournament at Queen's, but that wasn't the way they went," said Evans, who reached a career-high ranking of 21st in 2023.

"They went with some younger guys, and that's their prerogative.

"It would have been a classy gesture to give me a wildcard, but obviously that was lacking on this occasion.

"I entered the qualifying here myself, and I got in last minute. I was a bit perplexed that the LTA didn't offer me one into the main draw."