Frances Tiafoe on Monday fell to a first-round exit at Queen’s Club as veteran Briton Dan Evans rolled back the years, while fourth seed Holger Rune eased through.
Evans, who needed a wild card for his place in the draw after sliding to No. 199 in the world rankings, proved too good for the seventh seed in a 7-5, 6-2 win.
“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,” Evans said after winning the first men’s singles match at the newly christened Andy Murray Arena.
Photo: Reuters
The 35-year-old was a fitting victor as he had partnered Murray in his final match before retirement in the men’s doubles at the Paris Olympics.
“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,” Evans said. “It was pretty cool to do that.”
Rune had no such problems as the Dane eased into his grass-court season with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Australian lucky loser Christopher O’Connell.
British No. 2 Jacob Fearnley joined Evans in round two after he made short work of Australia’s Alex Bolt with a 6-2, 6-4 victory, but there was disappointment for another home favorite in Cameron Norrie, who was beaten 7-6 (8/6), 1-6, 6-1 by Czech rising star Jakub Mensik.
The 19-year-old, who defeated Novak Djokovic to win the Miami Masters in March, next faces Roberto Bautista Agut, who edged out Nuno Borges 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 6-4.
Qualifier Mackenzie McDonald got the better of 38-year-old Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS