Chengdu Open: Dan Evans loses to Roman Safiullin in straight sets
Written by I Dig Sports
British number two Dan Evans suffered a straight-set defeat in his opening match at the Chengdu Open in China.
Less than a week after helping Great Britain secure a place in the Davis Cup Finals last eight, Evans lost 6-3 6-3 to Russian Roman Safiullin.
Evans, 33, and team-mate Neal Skupski saved four match points to edge a nerve-wracking decider against France in Manchester on Sunday.
But, having received a first round bye, the fourth seed could not progress.
Ranked 27th in the world, Evans' tournament was ended in 83 minutes by the 55th-ranked Safiullin, who will meet Australian Jordan Thompson in the quarter-finals.
Evans lost serve twice in both sets and was unable to recover after going 4-1 behind in the first and 3-1 in the second - Safiullin clinching victory with a final break, taking his second match point.
In inspired form in front of a home crowd in Manchester, the Briton fought back to beat French teenager Arthur Fils before completing another comeback victory alongside Skupski at almost 22:00 BST after an exhausting day.
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