Dan Evans out but Aljaz Bedene and Kyle Edmund progress at Winston-Salem Open

23 August 2016 01:53

British number two Dan Evans suffered a first-round exit at the Winston-Salem Open, but Aljaz Bedene and Kyle Edmund made it through in North Carolina.

Evans, who is ranked at 66 in the world, came into the tournament on the back of winning the Nordic Naturals Challenger over the weekend, but was handed a tough clash with top seed Richard Gasquet and went out after a 6-4 4-6 6-3 defeat.

He pushed Gasquet hard, though, winning the second set but was crucially broken in the sixth game of the third and there was no way back as the Frenchman served it out.

Bedene, now at 77 in the rankings, needed three sets to get past Irishman James McGhee.

After losing the first set he battled back to take a 3-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 victory and book a second-round meeting with second seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Serbian Viktor Troicki lies in wait for Edmund in the second round after the Beverley man made it past American Rajeev Ram.

Edmund, who came into the match without an ATP main draw win since June, put that right with a 7-5 7-6 (7/5) win.

Source: PA