British teenager Dan Evans has been given a huge opportunity to test himself against the world’s best players after being awarded the fifth and final wild card into The Artois Championships, which starts at the Queen’s Club in London on Monday.
Evans, who broke into the World’s Top Ten in the junior rankings in January of this year, will be making his full ATP debut when he plays his first round match at The Artois Championships. As a junior, Evans has reached the quarterfinals of the US and Australian Opens, and in recent weeks he has made the last eight at two futures tournaments.
Chris Kermode, The Artois Championships Tournament Director, said: “The Artois Championships has a long history of giving young players a chance to make an impact and Dan stood out to me as a player with the potential to do that. In 2005, we gave a then 18-year-old Andy Murray a wild card and he went on to win his first full ATP matches and push a former Grand Slam champion (Thomas Johansson) all the way in the third round. Dan has obvious talent and this is an opportunity to show what he can do.”
The 18-year-old from Birmingham will join a star-studded field which includes the World No.2 Rafael Nadal, the Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, four-time Artois champions Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick, and the British No.1 Andy Murray.
The other four wild cards have been given to former Wimbledon semifinalists Jonas Bjorkman, Xavier Malisse and British pair Alex Bogdanovic and Josh Goodall.
Jamie Murray, who will form one of the top doubles teams at the event with partner Max Mirnyi, has been awarded a wild card into the singles qualifying event.