Dan Evans was stunned by Japan’s James Trotter to crash out of Australian Open qualifying.
The British No. 5 failed to advance past the first round of qualifying for the first slam of the year in Melbourne, which begins on Sunday, suffering an agonising defeat in three sets across more than two and a half hours.
Evans suffered a nightmare start, with his serve broken in the first game of the match, but after a similar start to the second set, the Briton stormed back to win the next four games en route to levelling the contest.
But Trotter prevailed again, breaking Evans to go 4-2 up in the third before closing out a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory.
In the women’s qualifiers, Harriet Dart made it safely through to the second round by defeating Lizette Cabrera.
The British number four triumphed 6-2 7-6 (5) and will now face Cabrera’s fellow Australian Taylah Preston in the next round on Tuesday.
British number six Heather Watson also advanced as she overcame Serbia’s Lola Radivojevic in three sets, triumphing 7-5 6-7 (14) 6-2 to set up a clash with American Varvara Lepchenko.
