British number one Dan Evans fell to a straight-set defeat by Stan Wawrinka in the first round of the Paris Masters.
Evans lost 6-2 7-6 (7-3) to the Swiss 12th seed, who now holds a 5-0 winning record against the Briton.
A single break of serve was the difference in the opener before Wawrinka edged past the 30-year-old in the second set tie-break.
Wawrinka will play either Gilles Simon of France or America’s Tommy Paul in the second round.
“A not perfect end to the year, but it probably summed up the year of 2020 for tennis.
“It was flat. It was very different from last week.”
Evans also confirmed he plans to work on a trial basis with Australian coach Chris Johnstone when he arrives down under next month.
Johnstone is a former top 100 player who has worked with Gigi Fernandez and Wayne Ferreira.
“He was pretty much the first person I thought could do the job, just because I had spoken to him before, and I liked the way he thought about tennis and worked,” Evans added.
Top seed Rafael Nadal begins his campaign in Paris against Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
Source link
