Evans to face Russian Karen Khachanov in next round
Tuesday 11 February 2020 19:26, UK
Dan Evans moved smoothly through to the second round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam with a straight-sets win over qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The British world No 33 needed just an hour and 17 minutes to overcome the 81st-ranked German 6-3 7-5.
Evans needed just two breaks of serve to dispense with Kohlschreiber, serving eight aces to four and winning 85 per cent of points on his first serve.
The unseeded Evans will now face either 17th-ranked Karen Khachanov in the 32-man hardcourt tournament after the Russian upset fifth-seed Fabio Fognini 6-3 6-3.
Sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut survived a major scare against Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics to reach the second round.
The Spanish world No 12 dropped the first set against the 66th-ranked Fucsovics before rallying to win 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 in two hours and 17 minutes.
Bautista Agut will face countryman Pablo Carreno Busta, the world No 30, who also needed three sets to defeat a lower-ranked opponent, overcoming France's Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.
Eighth-seed Denis Shapovalov was a first-round casualty, losing 6-3 7-6 (3) to 22nd-ranked Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
British No 1 Johanna Konta was also victorious as she and France's Caroline Garcia beat Vivian Heisen and Valeriya Strakhova 6-3 3-6 10-5 to win their doubles match-up at the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
The world No 14 is due to play either Slovakia's Viktoria Kuzmova or Oceane Dodin in the singles on Wednesday.
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