Dan Evans fought hard and admirably made life difficult for a superior opponent but, after two and a half hours of quality tennis, the British No 3 departed Court Suzanne-Lenglen for little to show for his efforts as he was outclassed 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 by the 13th seed Holger Rune in the first round of the French Open.
Evans's defeat means British players are now a dire 0-5 at the French Open this year, with all four male players losing in the opening round. While Evans believes he is playing well, his efforts have not been reflected in results. He is now 3-13 on the ATP tour this year as wins have been extremely difficult to secure.
Despite the routine nature of the scoreline, Evans played fairly well on his least-favourite surface, faithfully attacking his forehand, searching for opportunities to close down the net, and he forced Rune to work for his victory.
This story is from the May 29, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the May 29, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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