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Tom Hamilton, Senior Writer
PARIS — British tennis will have no contender in the second round of the singles at the French Open for the first time since 2020.
The final two Brits standing on Tuesday were Dan Evans and Katie Boulter. Evans played under the roof of Court Suzanne-Lenglen against No.13 seed Holger Rune, while Boulter tackled Paula Badosa late in the evening after rain played havoc with the schedule on day 3 of the French Open.
Evans ended up falling to a fired-up Rune in straight sets — 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 — and was left irritated by some delays in the third set. Boulter was also defeated, running Badosa close but eventually falling 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Unfortunately for the British contingent, that means all six singles hopefuls have exited the tournament at the opening hurdle for the fourth time this century. Jack Draper and Andy Murray lost on Sunday, Cameron Norrie and Harriet Dart followed on Monday, and then Evans and Boulter were defeated on Tuesday.
Though this tournament has not traditionally been the strongest surface for the British contingent, there have been some memorable runs, the most recent being Murray making the 2016 final only to fall to Novak Djokovic. But there was to be no British run this time out.
“It’s just been a bit of a tough tournament I think,” Evans said. “I think we’re actually in the best spot we’ve been in with the clay for a long time. I think Draper will win a lot of matches here, everywhere. I just think it’s a bit of a not a great tournament. It’s just how it’s panned out. We got loads of doubles players though.”
Draper was first up on Sunday but lost his first round tie against Jesper de Jong on Sunday in five sets. Murray was in the night session against old foe Stan Wawrinka but it was Wawrinka who came through in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
On Monday, Norrie was favourite against Pavel Kotov but fell in five sets to the Russian qualifier — Kotov winning 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Norrie was visibly exasperated at his own performance afterwards. Elsewhere on day two at Roland Garros, Dart lost in straight sets to Linda Noskova 7-6 (3), 6-4.
And on Tuesday as the first round came to a close, Evans, 34, lost to No.13 seed Rune, 21, and was left frustrated at two disruptions in the third set.
Having lost the first two sets 6-4, Evans was a break up to lead 4-2 in the third set. During that sixth game, Rune contested umpire Jaume Campistol’s decision to award him a code violation for racquet abuse, and in the seventh game — on Evans’ serve — the two had a lengthy discussion over a line call, much to Evans’ frustration. Evans was heard saying to the umpire at the changeover: “He doesn’t need a conversation on my serve. Let the f—— match play.
“Do your job! You don’t have to have a conversation with him. It’s twice in two games.”
From there, Rune broke back and went on to take the match 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
“I’m fed up with the umpires, flat full stop,” Evans said afterwards. “One second he has a conversation the game before because he has hit his racket. I don’t care if he wants a conversation on his serve, but it’s not really a conversation on the other one. I [felt] like I’m in a roll and I was disrupted, but it’s not Rune’s fault if he’s allowed to have a conversation. It’s pretty simple but I think that has to get a bit better.
“I don’t think there was any issues with the call or him to be honest, he was fine. It was just a chat. And I’m waiting to serve. It’s freezing on the court. The match was flowing great and then just stopped in the middle and I don’t understand what the umpire’s… but anyway, that’s not the reason I lost and that’s just part of the issue, part of the problem, but he’ll be back in work again tomorrow.”
Boulter was the last remaining Brit hope. She started brilliantly against Badosa, powering to the first set and was a break up in the second, only for Badosa to break twice and take that 7-5. There was nothing to separate the two in the third set until Badosa broke in the 10th game to take the third set 6-4 and the match.