Former drug user wins ATP Tour title

American Daniel Evans, the British tennis player who was banned for a year for cocaine use, defeated a series of strong opponents to win the ATP 500 Washington Open last week.

Evans, who had gone six tournaments without making it past the first round, went on to win five matches in a row, including straight-set victories over Frances Tiafoe, Grigor Dimitrov and Tallon Griekspoor, to win his first ATP 500 title. He also rose to a career-best world ranking of 21.

Evans and the title in Washington. Photo: Sky — Evans and the title in Washington. Photo: *Sky*

Evans has been playing professionally since 2006, but has only won two titles in his career. In 2017, Evans was suspended for a year by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) after testing positive for cocaine at the Barcelona Open. The then-world No. 50 player held a public press conference in England, admitting to his drug use and calling the ban a "painful and humiliating" experience.

Unlike Martina Hingis, Evans has focused more on tennis since returning from a one-year ban. Although she has never made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam, the 1.75m tall player is regularly ranked in the world's top 30. Evans's style of play is characterized by his serve and forehand, along with his deep, powerful backhand slice.

"I still feel stupid sometimes, but I don't look back," Evans said of the scandal six years ago. "That year, I couldn't accept the truth and hated myself. I did bad things during my suspension, before I saw a psychologist. I showed everyone that despite making big mistakes, I still had a future in tennis."

Evans won his first career title at the Murray River Open in February 2021. Since then, he has been one of the two best players in Britain, along with Cameron Norrie. Evans' career took a major hit this year, losing six straight first-round matches at ATP events. Just before Washington, he was eliminated in the first round of Atlanta despite leading Dominik Koepfer 6-2, 5-4, 40-0 and having three match points.

Former drug user wins ATP Tour — Evans' impressive shots in the Washington Open quarterfinals.

The ATP released a separate video of Evans’s impressive shots in the quarterfinal against Frances Tiafoe in Washington, as he had so many unbelievable shots. After the match, Tiafoe said Evans hit shots that even he himself could not have imagined. The 33-year-old then continued his momentum, beating Dimitrov in the semi-finals and Griekspoor 7-5, 6-3 in the final, in which he hit 26 winners and only eight unforced errors.

Vy Anh

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