Australian Open 2021 - Cameron Norrie downs Dan Evans in heated first-round all-British clash

Updated 09/02/2021 at 12:09 GMT

The all-British first-round match on Court 8 delivered a tense encounter, fireworks and plenty of great tennis at the 2021 Australian Open. It was Cameron Norrie who prevailed with a 6-4 4-6 6-4 7-5 victory over a disgruntled Dan Evans, with the latter repeatedly losing his cool in a heated match-up.

Cameron Norrie of Great Britain celebrates after winning match point in his Men's Singles first round match against Daniel Evans of Great Britain during day two of the 2021 Australian Open at Melbourne Park

Image credit: Getty Images

Cameron Norrie came out on top in the all-British clash in the first round of the 2021 Australian Open with Dan Evans left incredibly frustrated.

The pair, who know each other very well, delivered a gruelling encounter in the Melbourne sun which was incredibly tight and unpredictable throughout.

Evans, the 30th seed, looked to have wrestled back control of the match after bouncing back to win the second set in a fired up fashion.

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He lost his cool in a big way at the start of the second set and received a code violation for foul language and a subsequent time violation.

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But after his spat with the umpire and pair of warnings, Evans levelled up the match and looked set to kick on.

It was actually Norrie, however, who kept his composure and won the next two sets to secure his place in the next round.

He will next take on either Ilya Ivashka of Belarus or Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin in the second round.

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Rafael Nadal, who was in blistering form in his first-round match, could lie in wait for Norrie if he can make it through to the third round in Melbourne.

Evans was left very disappointed: "I think when you're flat mentally, it pays off on you physically. I wasn't very energetic, started very slowly. You know, I prepared as well as I could, but I could feel myself talking a lot, and it was tough to get out of.

"I was definitely probably tired mentally, and then -- I did a good job to hang in the match. But yeah, this is sort of exactly the reason I told you guys I wouldn't play the week before the Grand Slams was to try and conserve my body, and it's happened again."