Dan Evans has no sympathy towards one of his peers who has issued a statement criticising the ATP over the scheduling of his match.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina took to social media to criticise the organisers of the National Bank Open for scheduling his match against Jakub Mensik for 11:00 a.m. local time on Friday. In contrast, all other singles matches started at 12:30 p.m. The World No.19 argues the timing is unfair for him and Mensik due to how far away they are staying from the venue. He went on to accuse the ATP of prioritising factors such as TV rights ahead of players’ wellbeing.
“I want to share my disappointment and frustration with the ATP. Tomorrow (Friday) every match starts at 12:30, except ours, which has been scheduled at 11:00. We’re staying one hour away from the club, which means we have to wake up extremely early to arrive in good condition,” Davidovich Fokina wrote.
“We’ve asked for a change, but the answer was that everything has already been sold, tickets, TV rights, etc. Once again, it’s clear that players are not taken into consideration.
“The ATP always promises they’ll fix things, but nothing ever changes. This isn’t the first time it happens, and when you’re inside, you realise it’s not as great as it looks from the outside.”
Davidovich Fokina, who was runner-up at the Citi Open last week, is seeded 20th at the National Bank Open, which is taking place in Montreal. In his opening match, he defeated Corentin Moutet in straight sets.
Reacting to the Spaniard’s complaint, Evans ripped Davidovich Fokina’s comments and went as far as branding them as ‘pathetic.’
‘Wake up and play,’ the Brit wrote in an Instagram story featuring Davidovich Fokina’s statement. ‘The world wakes up and works 9-5, even 8-6. Pathetic.’
35-year-old isn’t playing in Montreal this week but did compete at a Challenger tournament in Lexington. He reached the second round before losing to Michael Zheng.
Despite Davidovich Fokina’s complaint, his match time will not be changed.
