𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Dan Evans felt he had come full circle after winning the first men’s match at the newly-christened Andy Murray Arena.

Evans beat world number 13 Frances Tiafoe 7-5 6-2 to reach the second round of the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club.

The 35-year-old was Murray’s partner when the three-time grand slam winner and former world number one played his final match, for Great Britain in the men’s doubles at the Olympics last year.

“I didn’t really think anything of it when I was put first on,” said Evans. “But then a few people mentioned it, that I had finished with him in his last match and then played the men’s event, the first match. It was pretty cool to do that.”

Evans, now ranked a lowly 199 and plodding around the lower-tier Challenger events, rolled back the years against big-serving American Tiafoe.

He picked up his second career win over a top-20 opponent on grass, having knocked 16th-ranked Nikoloz Basilashvili out of Wimbledon six years ago.

“I still believed I’ve got that tennis in me and I still believe I can do good things inside the top 100. But believing it and it happening is a lot different,” he added.

“You know, that’s why I wake up in the morning to go to practice, to go to training.

“You know how some days you think ‘are you deluded, are you nuts, have you still got it, still got it in your legs’? I think today showed I still have a bit left.”

Evans needed a wildcard to play at Queen’s and will need another if he is to compete at Wimbledon.

“I don’t think any younger players have been ripping up stumps to knock me out of the wildcard spot,” he said.

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“So I think I’ve got a good shot again. If I don’t, yeah, I respect the All England Club. It’s an amazing tournament, and they might go for younger people, which is perfectly fine. If they don’t, I’ve got a chance.”

British number two Jacob Fearnley joined Evans in round two after he made short work of Australia’s Alex Bolt with a 6-2 6-4 victory.

Edinburgh-born Fearnley, 23, said: “It’s really special to play here at Queen’s on the Andy Murray Arena.

“As a British tennis player, this is where we want to be playing, in front of a home crowd at Queen’s.

“It’s huge. I’m super happy he got an arena named after him. He was my biggest role model growing up.”

But there was disappointment for British number three Cameron Norrie, who was beaten 7-6 (6) 1-6 6-1 by Czech teenager Jakub Mensik.