Madrid Open: Dan Evans beaten by Robin Haase in first round
British number four Dan Evans lost his Madrid Open first-round match in straight sets against Robin Haase.
The 26-year-old lost 7-5 6-2 against the Dutchman, who is ranked 13 places higher at 45th in the world.
Evans lost his serve in the opening game, breaking back for 5-5 but then failed to hold in the next game.
Haase raced into a 4-0 lead in the second set and, although Evans managed to get a couple of service games on the board, eased to victory in 80 minutes.
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Evans, who rates clay as his least favourite surface, did make his opponent work in what proved to be final game, spurning three break points before Haase, 30, took his fourth match point.
Britain’s world number one Andy Murray, who received a first-round bye, will play Marius Copil of Romania in his opening match.
The Scot, 29, finished runner-up in Madrid last year, losing to Novak Djokovic in the final.
Johanna Konta, Britain’s leading female player, continued her own struggles on clay with a final-set slump during her defeat by Laura Siegemund in the first round of the Madrid Open on Sunday.