Tennis star Dan Evans announces he tested positive for cocaine
Written by News on 27/06/2017
British tennis No 3 Dan Evans has announced that he tested positive for cocaine in April.
Evans, who is ranked 50th in the world, claims he took the illegal substance out of competition and for reasons "completely unrelated to tennis".
The 27-year-old called an impromptu press conference at the Novotel hotel in London on Friday afternoon, where he took no questions but made a statement.
"This is a very difficult day for me and I wanted to come here in person to tell you guys face to face," he said.
"I was notified a few days ago that I failed a drugs test in April where I tested positive for cocaine. It’s really important you know this was taken out of competition and the context was completely unrelated to tennis.
"I made a mistake and I must face up to it. I do not condone for one second to anyone that this was acceptable behaviour.
"I’ve let a lot of people down – my family, my coach, my team, sponsors, British tennis and my fans.
"I can only deeply apologise from the bottom of my heart. This has been an extremely sad and humbling experience."
The International Tennis Federation was preparing a statement and will now decide Evans’ punishment.
The Birmingham-born player climbed into the world’s top 50 earlier this year after an excellent upturn in results, which included reaching the last 16 of the Australian Open in January. In May 2015, he had dropped as low as 772nd.
(c) Sky News 2017: Tennis star Dan Evans announces he tested positive for cocaine
