Not-so-good Evans avoids shock defeat

DAN Evans stared at an early exit from the Australian Open before turning things around against Mackenzie McDonald to record the first five-set comeback of his career.

The British No.1 from Hall Green had never previously won a match after losing the first two sets but found his game just in time at a chilly and blustery Melbourne Park to win 3-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-3.

Evans cut a frustrated figure during the first two sets, shouting frequently at his support camp and hurling his racket in anger.

Kyle Edmund made an excellent start against 24th seed Dusan Lajovic, opening up a 5-2 lead before rain sent the players back to the locker room.

Roger Federer recorded a convincing win over Steve Johnson. The 20-time grand slam champion breezed past the American, winning 6-3 6-2 6-2 in an hour and 21 minutes.

The first big shock came with a 6-3 6-7 (7) 6-1 7-6 (3) loss for 13th seed Denis Shapovalov against Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics.

Coco Gauff beat Venus Williams in the women’s singles again. The 15-year-old’s success at Wimbledon last summer catapulted her to global stardom.

With Gauff now a top 100 player – and 39-year-old Venus having been a doubt for the tournament with a hip injury – it was far less of a surprise to see the teenager come through 7-6 (5) 6-3.

Serena Williams began her campaign in emphatic fashion with a 6-0 6-3 victory over 18-year-old Russian Anastasia Potapova.

Australia’s great hope, top seed Ashleigh Barty, lost the first set to Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko but recovered quickly to win 5-7 6-1 6-1.

Defending champion Naomi Osaka trailed Czech Marie Bouzkova 4-2 in the second set but reeled off the next four games to win 6-2 6-4.

Petra Kvitova, who Osaka beat in a dramatic final 12 months ago, was the quickest winner of the day, taking just 50 minutes to swat aside fellow Czech Katerina Siniakova 6-1 6-0.

Caroline Wozniacki began her final tournament with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Kristie Ahn.