Dan Evans was at Andy Murray’s side when the Scot said an emotional au revoir to tennis at the Paris Olympics last summer. So how will the British No.5, now 35, say goodbye to the game? “I’ll leave quietly, that’s for sure,” he smiled. “I probably won’t tell anybody when I am finished. I’m not one for attention or anything like that. Then probably have a good party.”

Evans, who yesterday beat No.2 seed Tommy Paul 6-4 3-6 6-3 to reach the Lexus Eastbourne Open quarter-finals, has no immediate plans to hang up his racket and does not want this to be his last Wimbledon.

“I’m not ready yet – I’ve got another year left, I reckon – but there’s no lying, it’s getting harder to get on the plane,” he said. “My wife (Aleah) travels nearly every week, so I’ve got no reason to stop. But there are other things in life apart from tennis. I don’t want a family on the road and we’re not getting any younger, that’s for sure. And I want to be able to go to the pub after work or whatever I do and see my mates and have a few pints. I want to be able to play golf at the weekend in club competitions. I don’t just want to play tennis. I love my squash, I love my cricket, and playing another sport socially sounds really good. There’s another life ahead of me, and I look forward to that. “

Evans shut down his season last October – “I just wanted to be a normal person for a bit and knock it on the head” – and did not win another ATP Tour-level match until earlier this month. He briefly fell out of the world’s top 200 playing second-tier Challengers. So why is the former world No.21, who has won two ATP titles and banked $8,834,722, still going?

Speaking after beating world No.27 Miomir Kecmanovic at the Lexus Eastbourne Open earlier this week, the world No.170 said: “It’s not about money, it’s what you get out of days like today. Part of the year I’ve been struggling with the matches and they’ve not excited me as much as I would like.

“In Barletta (in Italy in March) we checked into the hotel, and I’m not one for needing luxury, but it was poor at best. I need to see where I’m at, really. I’ve not got another clay court season in me in the Challengers, that’s for sure.”

The ex-Enfant Terrible of British tennis, who served a year ban after testing positive for cocaine, has grown into its working-class conscience during his colourful career.

The Aston Villa fan is now the doubles partner and mentor to 2023 Wimbledon junior champion and Wolves supporter Henry Searle.

“I’m more than happy to help whoever asks me,” he said. “I’ve done my fair share of nonsense and I’ve done my fair share of good stuff. Henry’s a good, good kid. He’s from a working-class background which I take interest in because I know what it’s like. It’s not easy.

“For instance, the other day we were playing doubles at Queen’s and I asked him if his family were in and he said: ‘No, no, got to work’. People in tennis don’t get that. There’s the rich, rich people, they can take the time off but people have to work.

“Of course, I’d love to see not just more working-class, I’d love to see more people from Birmingham. We’ve not had enough players in the past 15-20 years. It always seems to be from down south, which is a bit annoying.

“Geography of where tennis players come from does interest me. If I got the chance, I would definitely like to help.”

Currently based in Dubai, he will return to his Cheltenham base at the end of his career.

“I’ve no real interest in coaching or helping another country,” said Evans. “I want to help Brits. It’s not about charging people an arm and a leg. As pros, we’ve got a bit of a duty, I feel, to give back a bit, because we’ve all taken something.

“I could coach out of a basket for 50 bucks an hour, if I really want to, and I’ll be more than happy to get my two pints at the end of the night. Life isn’t going to be too complicated.”

He will take the same attitude into his 10th Wimbledon main draw appearance as he bids to get past the third round for the first time.

“It sounds ridiculous, but the grass court season has already been a success,” he said. “I feel like I’ve got my game back and it’s as free of Wimbledon as I’ll ever have. I’m free to go and express myself on the court and enjoy whoever I play.”

Finally, back to last summer where Evans and Murray saved seven match points in the first two rounds on the way to the Olympic quarter-finals. “I think the best part was when we won the first match,” he recalled. “We just sat in the chair and we were like: ‘Fuck, what has happened there’. And every day in the village was amazing. Genuinely, I was down when I left. It was like being in the Big Brother house. I loved every minute of it. It was the best part of my career by a country mile.”