Slow start sees British hopeful Dan Evans crash out of Indian Wells
- Planet Sport writer
- 8 March 2024
Dan Evans was knocked out of the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells when he went down 6-1 5-7 6-2 to Roman Safiullin.
The British number two struggled to find his footing in the opening set, giving up breaks in the second and fourth games before Safiullin wrapped up the set in just 27 minutes.
The second set threatened to unravel in similar fashion early when the Russian broke Evans in the third game, but the world number 45 was able to break straight back.
Both men matched each other game-for-game from there until the Briton snagged the crucial break in the 12th game to level the match at 1-1.
History repeated itself in the third set though, as Safiullin rode an early break to ultimately wrap up the three-set win in just under two hours.
Safiullin will face American 29th seed Sebastian Korda in the second round.
