GB’s Evans out in first round of Melbourne qualifying

Great Britain’s Dan Evans missed out on the Australian Open main draw for a second successive year as he fell in the first round of qualifying in Melbourne.

The 35-year-old struggled with his serve in a 6-1 6-2 defeat by Japan’s Rei Sakamoto.

Former British number one Evans recorded four double faults and did not create a single break point in a 66-minute defeat.

Evans’ sole Grand Slam appearance last year was at Wimbledon, where he was given a main draw wildcard.

Fellow Britons Jay Clarke and Jack Pinnington Jones also fell in straight sets in the first round of qualifying, while Oliver Crawford lost 6-3 2-6 6-3 to Spain’s Daniel Merida Aguilar.

Arthur Fery and George Loffhagen recorded more positive results, with Fery beating Australia’s Edward Winter 6-2 6-4 and Loffhagen overcoming Germany’s Justin Engel 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2).

Players have to progress through three qualifying rounds to reach the main draw, which begins on Sunday, 18 January.

Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley are already in the men’s main draw, while Emma Raducanu, Francesca Jones and Sonay Kartal will feature in the women’s.

Katie Boulter, who is currently 113th in the world rankings, will no longer have to go through qualifying after several high-profile withdrawals secured her place in the main draw.

The 29-year-old will play in the Australian Open main draw for a third consecutive year.

Current women’s doubles world number two Taylor Townsend and former US Open champion Sloane Stephens also reached the second round of qualifying on Monday.

Townsend came back from a set down and eventually converted her sixth match point to defeat Japan’s Nao Hibino 6-7 (3-7) 6-0 7-5.

Earlier in the day, former world number three Stephens claimed her first win since Wimbledon 2024 with a 6-1 7-5 victory over Czech Barbora Palicova.

American Stephens missed much of the 2025 season because of a foot injury.

Elsewhere, Britain’s Norrie continued his Australian Open preparations with a comfortable victory over Hugo Gaston at the Auckland Classic.

Norrie beat the Frenchman 6-3 6-4 to set up a last-16 tie against either Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut or France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

The 30-year-old pulled away from his opponent after breaking serve at 2-2 and 5-3, wrapping the first set up in 34 minutes.

Gaston, ranked 94th in the world, put up more of a fight in the second set, holding serve after eight deuces for 2-2 and recreating his viral mid-match French fry-eating moment with a fan during the break in play.

Norrie, who grew up in Auckland, reached the final of the tournament in 2019 and 2023.