Monte Carlo Masters: Ilya Ivashka battles back to defeat Dan Evans in Monaco
British number two Dan Evans bowed out of the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco as Ilya Ivashka fought back to book a second-round clash with brother-in-law Karen Khachanov.
Dan Evans.Evans took the first set comfortably but was unable to sustain his form as the world number 74 went through 2-6 6-2 6-3.
The Briton got off to the best possible start when he broke Ivashka in the opening game, and he produced some accomplished tennis as the qualifier attempted to move him around the court to race into a 4-0 lead with the minimum of fuss.
However, as the Belarusian belatedly started to make his forehand count, he got himself on the board and briefly threatened to put pressure on the Briton, but the fightback proved fleeting as Evans served out to take the first set 6-2 in just 30 minutes.
Ivashka rallied to win the first game of the second set on serve and then broke at the second time of asking to go 3-1 ahead as he found his length to pin his opponent to the back of the court.
Evans held to love in the sixth game of the set, but passed up a break point in the next to trail 5-2 and was swiftly made to pay as the match was squared.
The third set went with serve - Evans saw another break point elude him at 3-3 - before Ivashka made the decisive move in the eighth game and ultimately eased across the finishing line.
Elsewhere, world number one Novak Djokovic made short work of beating Ivan Gakhov 7-6 (5) 6-2 in the second round to book his place in the last 16.
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