The punishment for cocaine started his steady rise. The Brit is now embarking on a Chinese tour

Daniel Evans is an interesting personality on the ATP tour. How did he handle his enforced year-long break and where did he go in his career after his cocaine problems?

Daniel Evans’ career has been slow. Up until a certain point. At the age of 27, he tested positive for cocaine and was banned for a year.

At the time, his ranking peak was 41st on the ATP and the aforementioned one-year break was a real problem for him. But he faced the punishment head on.

Although his positive finding came from an out-of-competition check, and it was also not a performance enhancing drug, the Birmingham native acknowledged his mistake.

A slow restart and a new high

In the spring of 2018, the Brit returned to the ATP circuit. He made a great run in several Challenger tournaments, but an injury put the brakes on him a few months later.

However, Evans shook it off again and started his gradual journey up the rankings in 2019. He was also buoyed by a successful China tour, playing in the semi-finals in Chengdu and Beijing.

In this period, he made it to the third round of Wimbledon twice. This result remains his best at a domestic Grand Slam so far. In September 2021, he also set a new high in the ATP rankings. This became the 22nd position.

This year

One of the nicknames of the British tennis player is “Viper”. And during this year, he lived up to his reputation and managed to bite a few times. Despite his long-term underperformance on clay, the first of his big moments came on the slowest surface.

At the Masters in Barcelona, he made it through to the last four players, where he was beaten only by the late tournament winner Carlos Alcaraz. He made an even bigger dent in the world at the beginning of August when he became the first Briton since Tim Henman to dominate the tennis event in Washington. At the age of thirty-three, he pushed his ranking high again with his 21st position.

This week, Evans is preparing for the event in Chengdu, China. He hasn’t played for three years and the Briton has rather fond memories of it.

Can he improve on his eight-final appearance here, his best result to date, and step up to attack the ATP’s elite 20? One can certainly believe so, because this guy is maturing like a wine.

Sources: ATP, Idnes, Tennismajors