Dan Evans secured a victory over fellow Briton Billy Harris in the opening round of French Open qualifying. This marks Evans` first appearance in the Roland-Garros qualifying draw since 2014. The former British No. 1 is currently ranked 215th in the world.
Despite Harris being ranked significantly higher at world No. 103 and having narrowly missed out on direct main draw entry, Evans triumphed with a score of 7-5, 6-3.
For the 34-year-old Evans, this win was only his second singles success on the Parisian clay courts, following a first-round main draw victory in 2022. He is scheduled to face French wild card Clement Tabur in the second qualifying round.
In the women`s qualifying, Fran Jones demonstrated strong form on clay by advancing to the second round. She defeated Lea Boskovic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3.
Jones, ranked as the British No. 4, has been performing well on the surface this year, recently winning her second clay title at the W75 Prague. This adds to her collection of six ITF titles claimed since 2019, including the W75 Vacaria earlier in March.
Jones`s next match is against Japan`s Mai Hontama. However, other British players did not fare as well. Heather Watson was defeated 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 by Australia`s Daria Saville, and Jan Choinski lost 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) to Giulio Zeppieri.
Players competing in the qualifying tournament must win three matches to earn a spot in the French Open main draw.
