6 months ago
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Dan Evans became the latest British player to suffer a first-round exit at the French Open after falling to a straight-set loss against Danish 13th seed Holger Rune.
Evans, 34, was beaten 6-4 6-4 6-4 by the 21-year-old Rune, ending British interest in the men's singles draw following defeats for Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper and Andy Murray.
With Harriet Dart out of the women's draw, it leaves Katie Boulter as the only Briton remaining in either singles competition.
The 27-year-old British women's number one is scheduled to begin her campaign on Tuesday evening against Spain's Paula Badosa.
It is only the fourth time this century that no British men's singles player has reached the second round at Roland Garros (also in 2007, 2013 and 2020).
World number 62 Evans, who has won just one match in seven French Open main-draw appearances, was unable to equal his best run in Paris as two-time quarter-finalist Rune claimed an impressive victory.
Evans, the British number three, dug in to save two break points in a gruelling 13-minute third game on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but Rune eventually made his breakthrough for a 5-4 lead before serving out the opening set.
Evans came through another thorough examination at the start of the second set, saving four break points, and launched a positive response by creating his first opportunity on Rune's serve.
However, it was again Rune who struck first - and the single break again proved enough after he produced a second-serve ace to save a break point when serving for a two-set lead.
The Briton was frustrated after Rune immediately broke back midway through a must-win third set, and the pair exchanged words after Rune disrupted Evans' service game to dispute a line call.
Having levelled the set from 4-2 down, Rune maintained his momentum to make the decisive break before completing victory on serve by taking a fourth successive game.
Evans, who lost in the first round at the Australian Open in January, will return to action alongside Murray in the men's doubles - the start of which was delayed by persistent rain on Tuesday.
