Evans serves up battling show to clinch place in Dubai semi-finals

British number one Dan Evans produced a battling performance to reach the last four of the Dubai Duty Free Championships with a straight-sets victory over sixth-seed Andrey Rublev.

It was the fourth ATP Tour semifinal the 29-year-old had qualified for in his career and the first at ATP 500-level.

Evans needed two hours and 11 minutes to get past Rublev, but eventually secured a 6-2 7-6 (11-9) win. He avenged the defeat he suffered to the Russian at the Adelaide International in January and showed great fight to progress after saving two set-points in the tiebreak.

Evans, who faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semis tomorrow, said: “I just stayed in there and knew I’d get my chances. I’m very happy with the way I played.

“Staying calm is the key, also getting the right balance and being aggressive with my feet. I’m happy to come through and I’ll prepare for tomorrow.”

Meanwhile Katie Boulter’s run at the Mexican Open has been brought to a halt by sixth-seed Lin Zhu but fellow Britons Kyle Edmund and Heather Watson are both through to the quarter-finals in Acapulco.

Boulter upset Francesca Di Lorenzo to make the second round but Zhu proved too strong in a 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 victory.

Elsewhere, Edmund beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets 6-4 6-4 to go through to the third round.

Watson saw off Katerina Bondarenko in straight sets 7-6 (7-2) 6-2, with the opening set seeing eight breaks of serve and seven in the tie-break before the world number 69 wrapped up the second set in 38 minutes to seal the victory.

● Kim Clijsters will continue her comeback in Indian Wells after being given a wild card for the BNP Paribas Open next month.

The former world No 1 ended more than seven years in retirement in Dubai earlier this month, producing an impressive performance in defeat against Australian Open finalist Garbine Muguruza.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have both been given wild cards into the doubles event.

With the Tokyo Olympics on the horizon, many leading players will be looking to get some extra doubles practice in alongside prospective partners.