BRITISH No 3 Dan Evans has been handed a provisional suspension by the International Tennis Federation after testing positive for cocaine in April.
Evans, who is ranked 50th in the world, will now miss Wimbledon next month and could face a ban of up to four years.
The 27-year-old said yesterday he took the substance out of competition and for reasons “completely unrelated to tennis”.
Evans said: “This is a very difficult day for me and I wanted to come here in person to tell you guys face to face.
“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 can only deeply apologise from the bottom of my heart. This has been an extremely sad and humbling experience.”
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