Kyle Edmund beaten in Marrakech final as wait for maiden ATP Tour title goes on

Kyle Edmund’s attempt to win a first ATP Tour title ended in defeat in the Grand Prix Hassan II final as he lost to Pablo Andujar.

The British number one, who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January, was playing against a man ranked 355th in the world but failed to turn up and lost 6-2 6-2 in Marrakech.

Edmund had beaten two opponents on Saturday to reach his first final at this level but won just four games against the Spaniard.

He does, however, move up to a career-high 23 in the rankings while Andujar claimed a first ATP title since 2014 and a fourth overall.

Steve Johnson successfully defended his US Men’s Clay Court Championship title.

Johnson, the 2017 winner in Houston, again lifted the silverware after winning the all-American final against Tennys Sandgren 7-6 (7/2) 2-6 6-4.

A tight first set was decided by a tiebreak, which Johnson won comfortably, only for Sandgren, also chasing his first tour title, to hit back in the second.

The deciding set looked to be heading for another tiebreak until Johnson clinically broke at 4-4 and then served it out for the win.

The early stages of the Monte Carlo Masters got under way with three first-round matches.

Karen Khachanov beat Thanasi Kokkinakis, Daniil Medvedev got the better of Marton Fucsovics and Mischa Zverev beat Felix Auger-Aliassime.