Wimbledon 2021: Dan Evans beats Feliciano Lopez to reach second round

British number one Dan Evans reached the second round of Wimbledon with a straight-set win over Feliciano Lopez.

The 31-year-old will next face either Dusan Lajovic of Serbia or Frenchman Gilles Simon.

“It was great. It’s amazing to be back playing at Wimbledon again. I didn’t realise it was going to be as busy,” Evans said.

“I’m delighted to win. I played some good tennis.

“The first set I was probably a bit too into myself, once I let go a bit I really got rolling.

“It was a good mental effort.”

Earlier, Britain’s Harriet Dart, 24, exited the women’s singles with a 6-1 6-3 loss to Elise Mertens.

Dart reached the third round as a wildcard in 2019 but could not repeat that run this year with a tough opening tie against the Belgian 13th seed.

“It was always going to be a challenging match against a very experienced player,” Dart said. “She’s the ranking she is because she can consistently play at that level.

“There was definitely some positives to take. Overall, a little bit disappointed.”

Evans wins tight encounter

It was the second meeting between Evans and 39-year-old Lopez, who has appeared at every Grand Slam since the 2002 French Open.

Their first was one to forget for Evans, a three-set thrashing in the first round of the Australian Open in 2016.

But this time it was a much closer affair from the start, with world number 26 Evans needing a tie-break to close out a tight first set in which both scuppered break points.

He slowly, but surely, took control in the second set, twice breaking Lopez’s serve in a five-game winning run as the Spaniard made a number of unforced errors.

The third set was closely-matched too, Evans staving off two break points from Lopez before avoiding another tie-break by capitalising on his first match point.

Victory at the All England Club marks his first win at a Grand Slam in 2021, ending a four-match losing streak.