Evans wins first ATP Tour title; Murray and Soares back to winning ways
• 2 MINUTE READ
Dan Evans claimed his first ATP Tour title with victory in the Murray River Open – while Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares also won their first event back together in Melbourne.
British No 1 Evans continued his outstanding form in the lead-up to the Australian Open, which begins tomorrow, by beating the highly-rated Felix Auger Aliassime 6-2, 6-3 in just 77 minutes.
Evans, ranked 33rd in the world, had reached the final of two ATP Tour events – in Sydney in 2017 and Delray Beach in 2019 – but had been unable to triumph on both occasions.
But after ending his wait for a trophy the 30-year-old is aiming to play even better in the first Grand Slam of the year – starting with a first round match against fellow Brit Cam Norrie.
"It was good to be out there and win, but like I said last year, this year I wanted to do well in the bigger events,” he said.
“I didn't have great Grand Slams last year, albeit a strange year, but my focus is on next week now. I've got a tough match against Cam and I can hopefully get through that one.
"I want to do well next week, but I am delighted with how today went and this week, but it's over now, and I can look forward to Tuesday."
Elsewhere Jamie Murray and Brazil’s Soares kicked off their doubles reunion in the best possible way by beating No 1 seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-3, 7-6 (7) to win the Great Ocean Road Open title.
Murray and Soares – who won the Australian Open as a pair in 2016 – will be hoping they can repeat that feat once the men’s doubles event gets under way Down Under this year.
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