Dan Evans was beaten in a three-set thriller by Ben Shelton in Acapulco; Jack Draper defeated seventh seed Tommy Paul to reach last 16 in Mexico; watch over 80 tournaments a year, including the US Open, exclusively live on Sky Sports Tennis
Tuesday 27 February 2024 07:11, UK
Jack Draper avenged his Australian Open defeat to Tommy Paul to book a place in the last 16 of the Mexican Open, as fellow Brit Dan Evans made an early exit.
The British No 3 raced through the first set against the seventh seed in the ATP 500 event, winning 6-0 in just over half an hour.
Paul, who beat Draper in the second round in Melbourne after losing their two previous meetings, proved a stiffer proposition in the second set.
Games remained on serve until Draper cashed in on his second break point to win 6-4, with the Brit needing just 86 minutes to book his place in the second round.
Draper will now face Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka, who came back from a set down to defeat Portugal's Nuno Borges 3-6 6-2 6-4.
Evans could not capitalise on a fast start as he went down 6-2 5-7 6-7 to world No 17 Ben Shelton.
The British No 2 won the first set 6-2 but dropped the second, as the American converted his first break point of the match to claim the set.
Evans saved three match points from 0-40 down on his serve in the deciding set and immediately broke Shelton to lead 6-5.
But he was pegged back and, after saving a fourth match point in the tie-break, eventually went down 7-5.
"Dan is a guy that I know well, we have a lot of banter in the locker room and [he is a] guy whose game presents a lot of challenges," Shelton said. "So to be able to come out of this first match here in Acapulco with a win after losing the first set is a big accomplishment for me."
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