Gloomy end to Sunshine Swing for Brits as Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans suffer defeat
British tennis players completed a gloomy end to the Sunshine Swing, with No1 Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans both losing in the second round of the Miami Open.
Norrie, who received a first-round bye, was surprisingly meek in a 6-3 6-2 defeat by world No65 Gregoire Barrere, lasting just 70 minutes against the Frenchman on Saturday night.
Evans fared better against Italian Lorenzo Sonego but, having taken the first set, the British No2 succumbed to a sixth consecutive loss 4-6 6-3 6-2 earlier on Saturday.
The results mean there are no Britons left in either the men’s or women’s singles draws in Miami, where Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu lost in the first round.
Norrie and Raducanu failed to build on encouraging displays at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the other tournament in the so-called Sunshine Swing which precedes the start of the clay court season next week.
Norrie reached the quarter-finals and Raducanu the last 16. Jack Draper also made the last 16, where he retired with an abdominal injury that also forced him out of the Miami Open.
Elsewhere, Czech prospect Jiri Lehecka beat 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-4 to reach the third round of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time.
Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a walkover into round three after Frenchman Richard Gasquet withdrew because of an ankle injury.
Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev barely broke a sweat against Roberto Carballes Baena, winning 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour, while fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Thiago Monteiro.
Fifteenth seed Alex de Minaur suffered an unexpected defeat to French debutant Quentin Halys, who progressed through a marathon three-hour, 18-minute match 6-7 (5) 7-6 (3) 7-6 (8).