Day one: Norrie & Evans defeated in opening round

It was a tough start to the clay court season for the British hopefuls at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters as Cam Norrie and Dan Evans both exited in the first round.

Norrie lost a tough opening round clash against 15th seed Karen Khachanov 7-5, 7-6(3) in two hours and 25 minutes.

The British No.1 led by a break in both sets and had two set points in the second, but the world No.17 found a way to fight back. Khachanov got off to the perfect start in the second set tie-break, reeling off six of the first seven points, before closing out a hard-fought victory over the British star.

Evans began his campaign against world No.44 Sebastian Ofner, with the British No.3 losing out 6-1, 6-4.

The Austrian wasted no time asserting his dominance in the opening round battle, as sprinted ahead to a double break to take a one set lead. Picking up where he left off, Ofner found his third and final break of the match on Evans’ opening service game in the second set, as he eased to victory in an hour and 10 minutes.

Doubles

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus have bowed out in the men’s doubles draw after losing out to Jackson Withrow and Nathaniel Lammons 6-4, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Lloyd Glasspool and Jean-Julien Rojer also lost their opener against Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-3.