Good Evans! GB ace ends poor clay run

DAN Evans ended a four-match losing streak with his first tourlevel victory on clay for four years at the Rolex Monte-carlo Masters.

The British number one (right) has lost a succession of close contests in recent weeks and saw two match points come and go in a long second-set tie-break against 2019 runner-up Dusan Lajovic before prevailing 6-3 6-7 (11) 6-2.

Evans has always struggled on clay and he had not won a match on the surface at any level since a qualifying victory over Serbian Lajovic in Rome in May 2019.

The match began on Monday but rain washed out play for the day after Evans withstood early pressure to take the opening set.

The 30-year-old from Birmingham missed four match points in losing to Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti in Cagliari last week and nerves were evident from both in a dramatic second-set tie-break.

He said: “It obviously got a bit ugly in the second set. It was difficult because the last few matches have been tough, especially last week, and I was thinking about that a bit.

“It was tough to swallow the missed smash but I came back and I thought I played well throughout the whole match to be honest. Dusan’s a good claycourt player. It sounds a bit silly but it’s better when I play a clay-courter on this stuff because they’re not used to my game so much.”

In the second round he will play Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz, who defeated Thomas Fabbiano 6-3 3-6 6-3. n Johanna Konta will be training outside on the clay courts at the National Tennis Centre this week while Great Britain face Mexico in the Billie Jean King Cup play-offs indoors, but she insists she has not turned her back on the competition.

Heather Watson will lead the team in the absence of British number one Konta, who is prioritising the forthcoming clay-court tournaments.

Konta is continuing to manage a knee condition and cited the need to give the joint time to adapt to a different surface for her decision to miss the hard-court tie.