Australian Open: Dan Evans crashes out in qualifying but Harriet Dart and Heather Watson progress Dan Evans crashed out in the Australian Open's first qualifying round as the British No6 was beaten in three sets by Japan's James Trotter in Melbourne.
British No6 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.
The 34-year-old hit back by taking the next four games as he claimed set two to bring things level, but Trotter then prevailed again, breaking Evans to go 4-2 up in the third before closing out a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory.
Fearnley was outside the top 500 before he won his first ATP Challenger event in Nottingham in June and followed it up with a string of other titles in 2024 alongside an impressive display against Novak Djokovic in a second-round exit at Wimbledon.
Having had his serve broken in the opening game of the match en route to losing the first set, the same happened to Evans at the beginning of the second.
