Dan Evans has urged his tennis counterparts to “be careful” when complaining about the current schedule. Players in both the men’s and women’s games have spoken out about the demands on current professional players, with some calling on the governing bodies to reduce the number of tournaments.

Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek is among the most high-profile names to have aired concerns, claiming the current schedule doesn’t allow for players to rest properly in between tournaments. However, British ace Evans has flown in the face of his counterparts, suggesting they shouldn’t be moaning.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of the men’s Queen’s tournament this week, Evans said: “I think first and foremost we’re in a fortunate position, when I hear about the schedule [complaints], these guys don’t have to play every week. You are allowed to not play. The reason they play is so they pick up their bonus pool.

“We’ve got to be careful moaning about it, we have a lot of work which is good. There’s lots of people in the world struggling for work, so we have to be careful harping on about the tough schedule. We are allowed to take weeks off, we are independent contractors, so that’s where I stand on it.”

Similarly to Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz has also hit out at the schedule, with the Spanish star having joked the ATP are going to “kill” players. Speaking last year, Alcaraz said: “I’m the kind of player who thinks there is a lot of tournaments during the year, mandatory tournaments and probably during the next few years gonna be even more tournaments, more mandatory tournaments.

“So, I mean, probably they are going to kill us in some way. Right now they are showing up a lot of injuries because of the ball, because of the calendar, because of a lot of things.”

Alcaraz, who triumphed in the French Open final against Jannik Sinner earlier this month, will join British No.7 Evans at Queen’s this week. The Spanish ace has been paired against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the opening round, with Evans, who was given a wildcard entry, handed a tricky tie against Frances Tiafoe.

The big British hope comes in the shape of Jack Draper, whose opening match sees him come up against American Jenson Brooksby. Draper suffered a premature exit at the French Open, but the world No.6 is being tipped to enjoy a strong grass-court season.