Monday 25 June 2018 15:40, UK
Dan Evans' hopes of playing at Wimbledon are still alive after victory in the first round of Wimbledon qualifying on Monday.
Evans beat Belarusian Ilya Ivashka 6-4 6-4 in sweltering conditions at Roehampton, putting him two victories away from the main draw at Wimbledon.
The former British No 2, who has been ranked inside the top 50, was not given a wild card by the All England Club as a matter of "principle" following his 12-month drugs ban.
He returned to the game over two months ago and has been the best-performing British player since, but was still overlooked.
That meant the 28-year-old had to come through pre-qualifying at the end of the last week, which involved winning three games in 28 hours.
He had to play twice on Friday in conditions that saw players run out of water and have no towels.
Monday's assignment was a tough one against world No 127 Ivashka, third seed in qualifying, who has a big serve and powerful forehand.
But Evans was able to negate that with an effective use of his backhand slice and a solitary break in each set saw him through to a clash with Australian Marc Polmans in the next round.
Alexander Ward is the only other British winner so far. Ward came from a set down to beat Darian King 4-6 7-5 6-0 and maintain hopes of a second successive run to the main draw.
