British stars Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans collided after a new handshake, to resist social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, it went terribly wrong.
But the fiery game had a crescendo during the post-game match when Evans fired Edmund.
tennis racquets as a sign of sportsmanship." data-reactid="28">Instead of shaking hands, to respect the rules of social distance, the players touched the tennis rackets as a sign of sportiness.
But Edmund appears to have slapped Evans’ racquets, which infuriated British star No. 1.
“Be very careful Kyle, be very careful friend,” Evans said on the net.
Evans smokes after Edmund’s collision
Not long afterward, Evans could be heard saying to his teammate, “My fucking rackets.”
“Did you see what he did to my racket?
“He just put on my racket. When I put my racket there, it simply tied my racket. “
The commentator stressed that after the game there was a lot of “tension” between the couple as the game was important.
Fans on social media have agreed that Edmund was overzealous and seems to have felt his frustration with Evans.
Wow exuberant … Evans wins the throws for Kyle to touch, Edmund hits strongly upwards and Dan Evans warns Kyle Edmund “be very careful Kyle, be very careful”
– Chris Goldsmith (@TheTennisTalker) July 28, 2020
Not great from Kyle Edmund there, hitting Dan Evans’ racquet a little hard in exchange! #BattleOfTheBrits
– GandDJ Gandolfini???????????????????????????? (@ djk29_) 28 July 2020
Add the “passive touch of the aggressive racket” to the list of things that annoy tennis players.
“Be very careful, Kyle, be very careful friend,” Dan Evans tells Kyle Edmund after this exchange … ???? pic.twitter.com/VR7ghMtSmk
– David FRTe (@ davidren7141) July 28, 2020
Evan’s victory on the second day of the competition was one of only two wins for Union Jacks.
Andy Murray continued to lose in mixed doubles with the British Bulldogs leading the Union Jacks 18-8.