Evans goes down 5-7 6-4 6-3 6-1 on Court 2 at Roland Garros
Sunday 28 May 2017 18:16, UK
British No 4 Dan Evans suffered an early French Open exit after going down in four sets to Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo on Sunday.
Evans, who has risen to 55 in the world and showed some form on the clay with an impressive run in Barcelona, started in impressive fashion by winning the first set against the 35-year-old.
But the five-time quarter-finalist, ranked 271st, showed all his experience in Paris to fight back and take the next three sets as Evans wilted in the Paris heat.
The Briton, making his French Open debut, was agitated by the conditions on a stifling Court 2 as Robredo triumphed 5-7 6-4 6-3 6-1.
In the day's other matches, Grigor Dimitrov won his first match in four years at Roland Garros to reach the second round.
The 11th-seeded Bulgarian made light work of veteran Frenchman Stephane Robert to win 6-2 6-3 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Last year's semi-finalist Dominic Thiem made it safely through as the 23-year-old Austrian comfortably beat Bernard Tomic 6-4 6-0 6-2.
Thiem is the only player to have beaten Rafael Nadal on clay this season when he swept to victory over the Spaniard in Rome earlier this month.
"It was very hot out there, so I'm happy that I won in three sets," said Thiem, who will play Italian qualifier Simone Bolelli or Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in round two.
"It was a tough opponent and a close first set, I guess. I was also a little bit nervous before the match, I have to say, and because of these circumstances I'm happy with my performance."
There were also wins for 38-year-old Ivo Karlovic, who advanced with a 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 6-4 win over teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas as well as Spanish trio Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Pablo Carreno and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
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