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Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans suffer early exits in Cincinnati

Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans suffer early exits in Cincinnati
© Reuters
British duo Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans suffer first-round exits at the Cincinnati Open to Gael Monfils and Lorenzo Musetti respectively.

Great Britain have no players remaining in the singles events at the Cincinnati Open following Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans's first-round exits on Tuesday.

British number one Norrie - seeded 13th in the draw - was overcome by a resurgent Gael Monfils 6-3 4-6 3-6, while Evans was seen off by Italy's Lorenzo Musetti 4-6 3-6.

Norrie progressed to the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open in 2022, but having already suffered first-round eliminations at the Los Cabos Open and Canadian Open since Wimbledon, the Briton extended his losing streak to three matches against Monfils.

Norrie's veteran opponent was plagued by a calf problem in the first set, in which he broke in the opening game before backing it up to lead 2-0, but he lost his serve on two occasions as Norrie won five of the next six games.

The 27-year-old faced a 15-40 deficit while serving for the set, and while Monfils failed to take either of those break points, the world number 211 was a man reborn in the second set.

Norrie did peg Monfils back to 4-4 after the Frenchman had broken for a 4-1 lead, but an untimely double fault from the Briton in the 10th game saw Monfils level the match, and more mistakes off the Norrie racquet proved fatal in the decider.

Dan Evans in action at the Citi Open on August 5, 2023© Reuters

It was the 27-year-old's turn to benefit from Monfils double faults in the opener as he broke immediately, but three unforced errors and a double fault immediately brought Monfils level, and he failed to recover after losing his serve once more.

Norrie - who missed out on a shot at Canadian Open revenge over Alex de Minaur in round two - has now been eliminated from Cincinnati in the first round three times in the past four years, while Evans bowed out at the opening hurdle for the third time in a row.

The 33-year-old had also been dumped out of the Canadian Open in round one after clinching his first ATP 500 title at the Washington Open, and he lasted just 86 minutes on the court against Musetti.

Evans lost his serve immediately, but mistakes from Musetti gifted the Briton a break back in the eighth game; the joy was short-lived however, as Musetti responded with another break for a 5-4 lead before Evans missed two chances to respond while trying to stay in the set.

Musetti quickly went a set and a break up on an Evans double fault, and the 21-year-old was almost untouchable on serve, restricting his more seasoned counterpart to just a single receiving point in the second set.

Serving to stay in the match, the overwhelmed Brit quickly fell 40-0 down, and while he managed to save one of those match points, Musetti's 23rd winner of the day sent him through to round two, where he will meet third seed Daniil Medvedev.

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Andy Murray pictured at the Canadian Open in August 2023
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