'Heartbroken' Dan Evans is ruled out of Queen's and is a major doubt for Wimbledon and the Olympics after suffering a bad fall during first round match against Brandon Nakashima

A ‘heartbroken’ Dan Evans is out of Queen’s Club’s cinch Championships and a major doubt for Wimbledon and the Olympic games after a bad fall in his first-round match that left him screaming in pain.

In the first game of the third set of his match against American Brandon Nakashima, Evans went to change direction at the back of the court and his right knee buckled beneath him. After a lengthy medical timeout the 34-year-old was forced to withdraw. He slumped on his bench and looked to be fighting back tears.

‘I'm worried, no doubt,’ said Evans. ‘I thought it was my groin, that settled down pretty much straightaway. Had a crack in my groin, but that seemed to be okay. No real pain.

‘But I think it's MCL, sort of a bit inside of the knee, there is an issue there, that's for sure on the testing so far with the physios.

‘So, yeah, I've got to wait 48 hours, let it settle, and then get a scan. Yeah, I'm worried. That's the bottom line. I'm in limbo a bit.

‘If I miss the Olympics or Wimbledon, yeah, it would be a tough one to swallow, no doubt.

‘I’m heartbroken at the minute.’

It is a bitter blow for Evans, who is in desperate need of some wins after a tough year so far. Grass courts are notoriously slippery in the first couple of days of a tournament – especially in cloudy conditions and at the extreme back of the court, where Evans fell, because the grass there has not been worn in as much as the area nearer the baseline.

American Frances Tiafoe was also forced out of the cinch Championships after a fall on the same Court 1 on Monday. Holger Rune complained about the state of the courts after his own first-round defeat but Evans refused to blame the condition of the surface.

‘It was a cloudy, overcast day. I didn't think the court was that slippy. Obviously some parts of the court don't get played on that much, and that's part and parcel of the grass. There were no other slips in the match. I didn't think the court was bad, to be honest. I thought it was a good grass court.

‘That's probably the worst thing you can do on the grass, your body goes one way, and we have all seen that sort of motion before. You wince if you're watching, and you hope it's not too bad if it's happening to you.’

All Evans can do is hope but one would imagine it is an extreme long shot for him to play Wimbledon and the injury also throws his Olympic participation into doubt – which in turn has implications for Andy Murray.

Murray and Evans were selected by the LTA for the doubles in Paris but were waiting to see if their combined rankings would be enough to make it in. This injury could make that a moot point, and Murray said this week that he may not even play the Olympic singles if he were not also able to compete in the doubles.

The option would remain for Murray to switch and partner either of GB’s other two Olympic singles players – Cam Norrie or Jack Draper. And an alliance with one of those two would actually leave him in a far stronger position to make the field than the lower-ranked Evans.