(Reuters) – British men’s tennis number one Dan Evans said he will miss the Tokyo Olympics following a positive test for COVID-19 in another blow to Team GB after Johanna Konta also pulled out.
Konta, the women’s British number one, withdrew on Tuesday having tested positive for COVID-19, two weeks after she pulled out of Wimbledon when a member of her team also contracted the virus.
“Unfortunately I recently tested positive for COVID-19. I will not be able to prepare and get myself ready for the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” Evans wrote on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/danevo.official/?hl=en.
“I am hugely disappointed and currently self-isolating according to guidelines as set by the government. I want to wish the entire GB team all the very best for the Games and look forward to being back on court in the near future.”
Evans, who was the 22nd seed at Wimbledon, was knocked out in the third round at the grasscourt Grand Slam.
Britain’s hopes will rest on twice Olympic champion Andy Murray, who also fell in the third round at Wimbledon, while Heather Watson leads the women’s charge.
A number of big names in tennis are missing the Olympics, including Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Bianca Andreescu.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
