Great Britain's Dan Evans won his first match since the Australian Open as he advanced to the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix Hassan II with a straightforward triumph over Alexei Popyrin in Marrakech.
The 32-year-old strolled to a 6-1 6-3 victory in just 75 minutes to end a six-match losing streak and set up a showdown with Italy's Andrea Vavassori in the last eight.
Evans set the tone for the match early on by breaking Popyrin in the opening game, and one hold to love for the Australian in the third game would prove to be the limit of his resistance.
Evans subsequently won four games on the bounce and sealed a dominant first set with a love hold, before the duo traded five holds in the second set as Popyrin tried in vain to launch a fightback.
A pair of double faults from the world number 95 allowed Evans to break in the sixth game, and Popyrin was forced to save one match point in the eighth to keep the contest going.
Popyrin brought up two late opportunities to break Evans while he was serving for the match, but the British number two beat away both of them before coming through an unconvincing final hold to advance.
"I haven't won for a few tournaments, so it was important to win again. I enjoyed the match and it was good fun. I really like Marrakech, that is why I came back," Evans said on the court after his straight-sets victory.
The world number 30 is bidding to reach his first ATP Tour final since the 2021 Murray River Open, where he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime to win his first top-level title.
Ben Knapton
