Wheelchair required for Swan as British duo progress

DAN EVANS and James Ward kept their hopes of qualifying for the Australian Open on track but fellow Britons Katie Swan and Jay Clarke were left disappointed.

Evans, 28, swept aside Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Da Silva in the first round of qualifying, before Ward battled back from a set down to defeat home favourite Maverick Banes.

Swan, however, left court in a wheelchair after injury forced her to retire against Bianca Andreescu, while Clarke suffered a straight-sets defeat.

World No 190 Evans needed just under an hour to post a 6-2 6-3 victory, breaking his opponent three times. He will face Austrian Jurij Rodionov as he bids to reach the main draw.

British No 3 Ward did not have such a smooth progression as he was made to work hard by 26-year-old Australian Banes.

Banes, ranked 301st in the world, recovered from a break of service in the opening game to take the opening set.

But he was eventually overpowered and Ward won four successive games to close out the match and record a 3-6 6-1 6-2 success which sets up a meeting with Marco Trungelliti.

Swan was left in tears and considerable pain as her match with Canada’s Andreescu came to an abrupt end. The 19-year-old suffered a back spasm, although the problem is not thought to be serious.

Andreescu led 6-1 at the time as she looks to continue the form which saw her reach Sunday’s Auckland Open final.

Clarke, ranked 237th in the world, suffered a 6-2 6-3 defeat to Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.

The 20-year-old broke Sonego in the opening game of the second set, but could not hold on to the lead and was immediately broken back. He then failed to capitalise on a chance to edge ahead again at 2-2, before losing his serve for a second time.

At the ASB Classic in Auckland, Britain’s Cameron Norrie secured his quarter-final spot with a straight-sets win over Joao Sousa.

The 23-year-old wild-card battled past his Portuguese opponent 7-6(5) 6-4 in an 95 minutes and will next play American Taylor Fritz.

World No 1 Simona Halep crashed out of the Sydney International with a shock straightsets defeat to home favourite Ashleigh Barty.

Top seed Halep, elected to start 2019 without a coach and her first match for more than three months following a back injury did not go to plan, Australian No 1 Barty winning 6-4 6-4.