In the lead-up to the French Open, Dan Evans was venting his frustration at the manner in which British tennis is being run.
On court on Sunday, his frustrations were instead reserved for himself in an entirely winnable opening-round match which he lost in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to Thanasi Kokkinakis.
For the second straight Grand Slam, Kokkinakis was drawn against a Briton early on. At the Australian Open, he lost out in a five-set marathon to Andy Murray, against Evans at Roland Garros he was a deserving winner.
The scoreline was perhaps a tad harsh on the British No2, who did little wrong in the first set and led 4-1 in the second before his Australian opponent put together a sequence of five straight games won to seal the set.
It left Evans remonstrating with himself, those in his box and the umpire for a foot fault when a break up and leading 4-2 in that set.
That proved key, so too an epic 10-minute game in the ninth, which could have gone either way. In the end, it went against the No20 seed, leaving him a mountain to climb, which he couldn’t.
There was much head shaking and self-flagellation when he was broken in game five of the third set. He managed to force his way back into it, a rare Kokkinakis double fault giving him the break back and levelling the scores at 4-4.
But it was only a temporary reprieve, Evans was broken the very next game from which there was no coming back. It meant Kokkinakis sailed through to the second round and Evans prepared to head to the UK for the home comforts of the grasscourt season.
It leaves the singles draws even barer of British players. For the first time at a Grand Slam since 2009, there are no British women in the singles despite six players attempting to make their way through qualifying.
And now home hopes rest solely on the shoulders of Jack Draper, only just back from a hip injury, and Cameron Norrie, who appeared to suffer a stomach issue in his exit from the Lyon Open earlier this week. Both are in action on Monday.
