By Mike Dickson for the Daily Mail
Published: 21:22 GMT, 20 March 2019 | Updated: 21:42 GMT, 20 March 2019
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A tiring if productive five-week trip around America culminated in a near meltdown for Dan Evans on Wednesday when he came close to being defaulted at the Miami Open.
The British No 3 launched several tirades against Brazilian umpire Rafael Maia after a string of bad line calls went against him in the final qualifying round against mercurial Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
Evans went down 6-4 6-4 and before leaving the court told Maia it was 'the worst performance I have ever seen' from someone in the chair before branding the officiating 'a complete s***show'.
A tiring five-week trip around America culminated in a near meltdown for Dan Evans
'Tell them to get ready for me in the office,' he added, knowing that he will likely face a four-figure fine for an earlier audible obscenity and later point penalty when he smashed his racket into his water bottle at the changeover, splashing those sitting behind his chair.
The 28-year-old looked weary after what was his 31st singles match already this season, but his recently elevated ranking meant that he got into the draw anyway as a 'lucky loser', and will face Tunisia's Malek Jaziri on Thursday.
Evans later branded
