British number one Dan Evans ended his Queen's Club losing streak with a straight-sets win over Australian youngster Alexei Popyrin at the cinch Championships.
Evans, at a career-high ranking of 25 in the world and seeded sixth, had not won a match at the Wimbledon tune-up in west London since 2014.
But after taking a closely-fought opening set courtesy of a break for 5-4, an early break in the second put the 31-year-old firmly in control.
A first win at Queen's since 2014 for Dan Evans! Excellent performance to beat the dangerous Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-4. #cinchChampionships pic.twitter.com/IPMhsvceBg — cinch Championships (@QueensTennis) June 15, 2021
Evans ran out a comfortable 6-4 6-4 winner in an hour and 25 minutes to set up a meeting with Adrian Mannarino of France in the second round.
Evans said: "It was great to be back, a great atmosphere and good to be back in front of a very nice crowd. Not full, but we're getting there."
Evans, who counts world number one Novak Djokovic among his scalps this year, added: "That gave me a lot of confidence but you've still got to come out and win the matches.
"I was a bit nervous, to be honest, but I'm happy to come through and hopefully win a few more this week."
