Dan Evans knocked out of Barcelona Open as Rafael Nadal cruises through
Nadal will face world No 94 Chung Hyeon for place in semi-finals
Thursday 27 April 2017 20:31, UK
Dan Evans' unlikely run at the Barcelona Open came to an end with a third-round loss to fourth seed Dominic Thiem while Rafael Nadal cruised into the quarter-finals.
The British No 3, who admits he is not a fan of clay, went into the tournament looking for his first ever ATP Tour victory on the surface.
He managed two, but Thiem proved a step too far despite another good performance from Evans.
Only a tie-break separated the pair in the first set but it was Thiem who took his chances in the second to win 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.
It was revenge for the Austrian, who became Evans' first top-10 scalp in Sydney in January.
Nadal moved closer to a 10th title in the Catalan capital when he cruised past South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
Nadal, fresh from a 10th Monte Carlo triumph at the weekend, will face Chung Hyeon of South Korea for a semi-final spot after the world No 94 upset eighth seed Alexander Zverev 6-1 6-4.
There was also another surprise later in the day as fifth seed and Monte Carlo semi-finalist David Goffin suffered a shock 6-7 6-3 6-4 defeat to Russia's fast rising Karen Kachanov.
The 20-year-old has risen to No 56 in the world and chalked up the biggest win of his career with a two-and-a-half hour triumph over the world number 10.
For those on the move, we will have the rest of the Barcelona Open covered via our website skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @skysportstennis for news, reports, live blogs and expert analysis with updates on Sky Sports News HQ.
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