Dan Evans has never hidden his dislike of clay but yesterday, the Briton’s concerns were more with the intense heat that left him struggling to breathe at times as he lost in the first round of the French Open.
With temperatures well over 30 degrees Celsius, Evans was worn down 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 by the veteran Spaniard Tommy Robredo, a former top 10 player making his way back after injury.
“I was just struggling a bit. It was hot,” Evans said, in his typically understated way. (There had been a) retirement before (his match) and I hadn’t eaten that long before, so I was struggling with that for quite a while.
Evans said he had been physically sick when he left the court during the match. “It was really tough. It was difficult conditions, especially for such a physical surface, as well, for me. I clearly found it really hard.
Evans won two matches during the clay-court season, both in Barcelona, and said he feels his form in general is in a good state heading into the clay-court season.
“I feel good,” he said. “I played a lot of tennis. It's a different story on the quicker surface. Obviously, the surface helps me a lot. I don't worry about five sets on the hard or the grass. Today was definitely a lot different to what I imagined.”
With Murray and Kyle Edmund not in action until Tuesday, Aljaz Bedene is the lone British man in action today, taking on the American, Ryan Harrison.
Austrian Dominic Thiem, the highest men’s seed in action, looked impressive in his 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 win over Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who described his opponent as one of the top two or three men on clay.
And Grigor Dimitrov won at Roland Garros for the first time since 2013, beating Frenchman Stephane Robert 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
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