Britain's Dan Evans hits out at LTA after practice with GOAT Federer

Evans trained with Federer as well as Andy Murray and ahead of the French Open, and said he found his time with the Swiss to be an “eye-opener.”

Evans said money should be “spread out better” to enable more British players to reach a higher ranking.

He said: "We need more people [ranked] inside 200-300 before we start having analysis and stuff like that.

"The people who are running performance obviously don't think it's wasted [money], they want to put their money into that. People are using it so it's not wasted but I think it could be spread out a little better.

"In our country you can't be a tennis player when you have no money or you're from a bad area. It's impossible unless your mum and dad remortgage their house. Why should people do that when there's six analysis guys?"

The LTA responded to Evans’ comments, saying: "The LTA is committed to opening tennis up and making every stage of being an aspiring pro more accessible. For example, our National Academies will dramatically reduce the cost for our highest potential juniors and we subsidise the coaching of more than 2,000 children at local and another 220 at regional player development centres.

It added: "We are also making a significant annual investment into the charity Tennis First so it can provide financial assistance to families from less privileged backgrounds and enable more children to progress along our Player Pathway."

On his practice with the two tennis greats, Evans was full of praise for “down to earth” Federer, the world no. 2.

Speaking about Andy Murray, who has said he may return to Wimbledon this summer in the doubles tournament, Evans said: “He seemed happy – if I’m honest, a bit happier than normal.”

Evans’ Roland Garros campaign starts on Monday against 23rd seed Fernando Verdasco.