Dan Evans eases past Benjamin Becker in Citi Open first round
Tuesday 19 July 2016 08:33, UK
Britain's Dan Evans cruised into the second round of the Citi Open in Washington with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Germany's Benjamin Becker.
The start of the match was delayed because of the threat of thunderstorms around the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center, but British No 4 Evans, who reached the third round at Wimbledon before losing to Roger Federer, quickly took command when the match got under way.
Evans, 26, needed just 49 minutes to wrap up the win as he broke his 35-year-old opponent's serve four times.
World No 82 Evans will now face the 12th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in the second round after the Bulgarian was handed a first-round bye.
Meanwhile, John Millman reeled off the last seven games of the match to beat local hope Denis Kudla 7-5 6-0 in the first round.
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Fellow Australians James Duckworth and Jordan Thompson also advanced, with Duckworth overcoming America's Tim Smyczek 7-5 6-1 and Thompson getting the better of Victor Estrella Burgos 6-3 6-2.
Bjorn Fratangelo won an all-American battle against Alex Kuznetsov 4-6 6-2 6-4 and 18-year-old American Taylor Fritz posted a 6-4 6-3 victory over Israel's Dudi Sela, firing down 11 aces and saving all seven break points.
