Dan Evans' Australian Open Qualifying Hopes Dashed as Cam Norrie Shines in Auckland
In a disappointing start to his Australian Open qualifying campaign, former British number one Dan Evans was knocked out of the competition by Japanese wildcard Rei Sakamoto. The 35-year-old Briton's struggles with serve and return were evident, as he was beaten 6-1 6-2 after double-faulting four times.
Evans' serving woes were compounded by Sakamoto's impressive figures of 74 per cent first serve success rate, while the Japanese player capitalized on Evans' failure to break, taking five of his seven opportunities to gain a advantage. The British star's return game was also woefully ineffective, as he failed to earn a single break point against his opponent.
This marked the second successive year that Evans has been eliminated in the first round of qualifying in Melbourne. His best showing at this stage of the tournament came three years ago, when he secured a wild card entry into the main draw at Wimbledon.
On a more positive note for British tennis fans, Arthur Fery and George Loffhagen both advanced to the next round after Fery defeated Australian Edward Winter 6-2 6-4 and Loffhagen claimed a hard-fought victory over Germany's Justin Engel. Jack Pinnington Jones and Jay Clarke also followed Evans out of the competition.
In other news, Britain's Cam Norrie made a strong start to his Auckland tournament with a 6-3 6-4 win over French qualifier Hugo Gaston. The 30-year-old produced a solid serving display, winning 88 per cent of his first serve points and creating eight opportunities to break before taking five. This victory sets up a last-16 meeting with either Roberto Bautista Agut or Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard for Norrie, who will be Britain's top-ranked male at the Australian Open in the absence of injured Jack Draper.
In a disappointing start to his Australian Open qualifying campaign, former British number one Dan Evans was knocked out of the competition by Japanese wildcard Rei Sakamoto. The 35-year-old Briton's struggles with serve and return were evident, as he was beaten 6-1 6-2 after double-faulting four times.
Evans' serving woes were compounded by Sakamoto's impressive figures of 74 per cent first serve success rate, while the Japanese player capitalized on Evans' failure to break, taking five of his seven opportunities to gain a advantage. The British star's return game was also woefully ineffective, as he failed to earn a single break point against his opponent.
This marked the second successive year that Evans has been eliminated in the first round of qualifying in Melbourne. His best showing at this stage of the tournament came three years ago, when he secured a wild card entry into the main draw at Wimbledon.
On a more positive note for British tennis fans, Arthur Fery and George Loffhagen both advanced to the next round after Fery defeated Australian Edward Winter 6-2 6-4 and Loffhagen claimed a hard-fought victory over Germany's Justin Engel. Jack Pinnington Jones and Jay Clarke also followed Evans out of the competition.
In other news, Britain's Cam Norrie made a strong start to his Auckland tournament with a 6-3 6-4 win over French qualifier Hugo Gaston. The 30-year-old produced a solid serving display, winning 88 per cent of his first serve points and creating eight opportunities to break before taking five. This victory sets up a last-16 meeting with either Roberto Bautista Agut or Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard for Norrie, who will be Britain's top-ranked male at the Australian Open in the absence of injured Jack Draper.
so i was thinking about dan evans' situation and it got me thinking... sometimes we gotta face our weaknesses head on. like, he struggled with his serve and return, but instead of giving up, he could've used that as a learning experience to improve. it's easy to get discouraged when things aren't going our way, but the thing is, every setback is an opportunity to grow 
just watched this news and i'm surprised dan evans didn't do better in qualifying... 6-1 6-2 to rei sakamoto? that serve and return is pretty bad 
what's going on with british tennis players not being able to get past the first round of qualifying for years now? need to see some improvement if they wanna make a dent at wimbledon 
. He's been gettin' knocked out of qualifying rounds and it's like he's stuck in a rut. I mean, 6-1 6-2 against some Japanese wildcard? That's brutal 
. And his serve was all over the place, double-faultin' four times? Unbelievable 
. At least Cam Norrie is lookin' solid and Britain's got some hope with Arthur Fery and George Loffhagen movin' on 
. Now if only Evans can get his act together... 
maybe dan evans just needs a break or somethin' 
, you can't even let your opponent have a chance sometimes. And yeah Evans' serve was a mess, I get that his return game wasn't there but come on Dan 
I mean i know he's 35 and all that but you'd think he'd still have somethin for him. That serve of his is a joke, constant double faults are just so unattractive to watch. And his return game is literally non existent. 
I mean Arthur Fery and George Loffhagen did alright for themselves tho, so there's hope for Britain yet! 
I feel bad for Dan Evans, he just can't seem to catch a break lately... 
he's got some great skills and I'm loving his serving display! 
hope he keeps this momentum going and does well at the Aussie Open