Dan Evans sees off Alexei Popyrin to end long wait for Queen’s Club victory
It was the British number one’s first win at the venue since 2014.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.British number one Dan Evans ended his Queen’s Club losing streak with a straight-sets win over Australian youngster Alexei Popyrin at the cinch Championships.
Evans, at a career-high ranking of 25 in the world and seeded sixth, had not won a match at the Wimbledon tune-up in west London since 2014.
But after taking a closely-fought opening set courtesy of a break for 5-4, an early break in the second put the 31-year-old firmly in control.
Evans ran out a comfortable 6-4 6-4 winner in an hour and 25 minutes to set up a meeting with Adrian Mannarino of France in the second round.
Evans said: “It was great to be back, a great atmosphere and good to be back in front of a very nice crowd. Not full, but we’re getting there.”
Evans, who counts world number one Novak Djokovic among his scalps this year, added: “That gave me a lot of confidence but you’ve still got to come out and win the matches.
“I was a bit nervous, to be honest, but I’m happy to come through and hopefully win a few more this week.”