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Dan Evans was knocked out in the first round of the French Open after a straight-sets defeat to Thanasi Kokkinakis, leaving just two Brits left in the singles draw.
British No 2 Evans, ranked 25th in the world and seeded No 20 for this event, was beaten 6-4 6-4 6-4 by world No 108 Kokkinakis on the opening day of the Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
Evans’ compatriots Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper will be in action over the next couple of days in Paris, at a tournament Andy Murray withdrew from in order to prioritise the grass-court season.
There will no British presence in the women’s draw.
Emma Raducanu is absent following ankle and wrist surgery and none of her countrywomen advanced through qualifying, with Harriet Dart and Katie Boulter among those beaten.
Evans – who has now lost five of his six first-round matches at the French Open – had been critical of British tennis this week, saying Raducanu’s US Open win in 2021 had “papered over the cracks”.
The 33-year-old appeared to have turned his match with Kokkinakis around in the second set when he led 4-1 but, at 30-0 in the next game, he was foot-faulted for his foot crossing the centre line and lost four points in a row.
Evans hurled his water bottle to the floor in annoyance, earning a code violation, and did not win another game in the set.
He gave himself a chance of breaking Kokkinakis – the player beaten by Murray from two sets down in the early hours of the morning at the Australian Open in January – to pull himself back to 4-4 in the third set.
But he then dropped serve again before Kokkinakis closed out victory to secure a second-round meeting with either 2015 champion Stanislas Wawrinka or Albert Ramos Vinolas.
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