Evans is beaten by Murray in Abu Dhabi

CHELTENHAM’S Dan Evans was well beaten by Andy Murray in Abu Dhabi.

The pair were taking part in the grandly-named Mubadala World Tennis Championship, and Murray looked sharp and moved well in a 6-3 6-2 victory over the British number one.

Evans was a late replacement and that perhaps explains why he was some way below his best, with the 31-year-old midway through his preparations for the start of the new season next month.

But it was certainly an encouraging display from Murray, who said in his on-court interview: “We practise a lot together so we know each other’s games well. We always play a lot of long points, long rallies. Dan’s got skills that very few players on the tour have. It’s a good start.”

He and Evans have never met in a competitive match but Murray won a tight contest at the Battle of the Brits event last December.

“He played well,” said Evans. “It wasn’t much fun for me. I did some things well. Not enough. But it was really good to get the chance to be out here in front of a great crowd.”

The Scot then provided the first opponent for Rafael Nadal when he made his comeback from a lengthy lay-off with a foot injury on Friday and Murray won in straight sets, going on to the final where he lost to Andrey Rublev.

Evans then lost in the play-off for fourth and fifth place, going down to American Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 11-9.

Evans was due to take part in the Battle of the Brits event due to be held in Aberdeen this week but it was postponed due to coronavirus.

He played well. It wasn’t much fun for me. I did some things well. Not enough. But it was really good to get the chance to be out here in front of a great crowd

Dan Evans