Former British No 1 Dan Evans is out of Australian Open qualifying following a first-round defeat to Japan’s Rei Sakamoto.
The 35-year-old was overwhelmed 6-1 6-2 as he appeared to wrestle together with his serve.
He double-faulted 4 occasions and made simply 48 per cent of his first serves, in comparison with Sakamoto’s 74 per cent.
Evans fared little higher on return, failing to earn a break level, whereas Sakamoto took 5 of his seven probabilities to interrupt.
It is the second successive yr that Evans has exited within the first spherical of qualifying in Melbourne. The one Grand Slam major draw he reached in 2025 was at Wimbledon, the place he was given a wild card.
There was some higher information for the British contingent in Melbourne on Monday as Arthur Fery beat Australian Edward Winter 6-2 6-4 to advance.
George Loffhagen joins him within the second spherical after claiming a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2) victory over Germany’s Justin Engel.
Jack Pinnington Jones and Jay Clarke adopted Evans out. Pinnington Jones misplaced in straight units to Belgium’s Gilles Arnaud Bailly, whereas Clarke additionally did not win a set in opposition to Brazilian Gustavo Heide.
Norrie eases via in Auckland
Elsewhere, Britain’s Cam Norrie received his opening match on the ASB Basic in Auckland.
Norrie beat French qualifier Hugo Gaston 6-3 6-4 to arrange a last-16 assembly with both Roberto Bautista Agut or Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Norrie is the fifth seed in Auckland due to his world rating of No 28, and shall be Britain’s top-ranked male on the Australian Open within the absence of the injured Jack Draper.
Norrie produced a robust serving show in opposition to Gaston on Monday, making 69 per cent of his first serves and profitable 88 per cent of these factors to regulate the competition.
The 30-year-old created eight alternatives to interrupt and took 5 of them to seal victory in an hour and 20 minutes.
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