Dan Evans is set to reject the chance to represent Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics.
The British No 1 is currently at a career-high ranking of 32 in the world, which would comfortably be good enough to earn him a place in the Japanese capital, but he is not willing to disrupt his schedule.
The Olympic tennis event does not carry ranking points or prize money and overlaps with the start of the US hard-court season building up to the US Open.
Evans’ stance should perhaps come as no surprise given he also declined a spot in Rio in 2016 when he was offered it after a number of withdrawals.
Speaking after his second-round loss at the Australian Open, the 29-year-old said: “I love playing Davis Cup and everything and I think everyone should represent their country for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup and ATP Cup but the Olympics is sort of an individual event and I’m not sure I’ll be going to Japan.
“First and foremost I have to take care of myself and my life rather than maybe taking time out – there’s some good tournaments on at that point. I probably won’t do it because of certain situations. I don’t have long to play as well so I probably won’t go over to Japan.”
PA
