Tennis news 2021 - Dan Evans, Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart progress at Wimbledon warm-up event in Nottingham
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Published 08/06/2021 at 08:53 GMT
Dan Evans beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round of the Challenger event in Nottingham on Monday. Elsewhere, there were also wins for Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart in the women's tournament. The tournaments represent warm-up events ahead of the third Grand Slam of the year at Wimbledon, which starts on June 28.
Dan Evans
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Dan Evans began his preparation for Wimbledon as he recovered from a set down to beat Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5) in the first round in Nottingham.
The British number one made the ideal start to the grass-court season and said his need for matches forced him to enter another tournament bubble.
Asked what made him change his mind about entering a tournament so soon after his French Open exit, the 31-year-old said: “The tennis aspect really.
“It is a very strict bubble and it is not ideal to be in another bubble again straight away but my tennis needed it and that was the decision really.
“The coach thought it would be good to play. It was a good option and I am happy I came and played and whatever happened today would have been a good start for the grass.
Just for my body getting used to it, all sorts of things, it has been nice to play the way I enjoy. I thought I did a good job today.
Elsewhere, Britain's Katie Boulter got her grass-court campaign off to a winning start in Nottingham with a 6-2 6-3 win over Colombia’s Maria Camila Osorio Serrano.
The world number 262 is joined in the second round by Harriet Dart, who beat fellow Briton Emma Raducanu 6-3 6-4.
Boulter, 24, who was ranked in the top 100 before a back injury two years ago, said: "I am getting closer to where I want to be.
"I feel my game is in a good place."
She added: "I feel stronger than I ever have before and I hope I can go a lot further this year.
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Katie Boulter
Image credit: Getty Images
“I want to get my ranking up, that's my number one goal and get back to where I was and push forward from there."
Elsewhere, Briton Francesca Jones led Georgina Garcia Perez 3-1 in the third set but the Spaniard then required a medical time-out which led to Jones suffering from full body cramps.
Jones, 20, could not recover from then and was beaten 4-6 6-3 6-4.
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