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British No. 3 Dan Evans has been dumped by sports company Ellesse just three months into his sponsorship deal after testing positive for cocaine in April. Ellesse, who only signed a sponsorship deal with Evans in March, said they "cannot condone the lifestyle choices he has made." Evans, ranked 50th in the world, will miss Wimbledon through a provisional suspension by the International Tennis Federation and could face a ban of up to four years. "This is a very difficult day for me and I wanted to come here in person to tell you guys face to face. I was notified a few days ago that I failed a drugs test in April where I tested positive for cocaine," Evans said during a press conference in London Friday. "It's really important you know this was taken out of competition and the context was completely unrelated to tennis. I made a mistake and I must face up to it. I do not condone for one second to anyone that this was acceptable behaviour. "I've let a lot of people down: my family, my coach, my team, sponsors, British tennis and my fans. I can only deeply apologise from the bottom of my heart. This has been an extremely sad and humbling experience." An ITF statement said Evans' positive test was confirmed at the Barcelona Open and the player was charged on June 16 with an anti-doping violation. The statement added: "As positive tests for non-specified substances carry a mandatory provisional suspension, Mr Evans will be provisionally suspended with effect from June 26, under Article 8.3.1(c) of the 2017 TADP, pending determination of the case." The key ruling of the World Anti-Doping Code is Article 10.2.3, which says a ban for a "non-specified stimulant" like cocaine can be reduced from four to two years if: "the player can establish that it was Used Out-of-Competition in a context unrelated to sport performance." Frenchman Richard Gasquet was issued with the same suspension as Evans in 2009 but it was reduced to a little more than two months when the ITF's tribunal panel ruled he had taken the substance inadvertently. Former British No. 1 Greg Rusedski tested positive for nandrolone in 2003, but was later cleared. Evans' last match came at an ATP Challenger event in Surbiton earlier this month when he retired with a calf injury during a quarterfinal against Germany's Dustin Brown.
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