Dan Evans advances to first round of Miami Open as lucky loser

Dan Evans survived a straight-sets defeat in the Miami Open’s qualifying round after clinching a lucky loser spot.

The 28-year-old has been searching to recreate the form that saw him reach the final at Delray Beach, but lost 6-4 6-4 to Alexander Bublik.

Thanks to his lucky loser berth, he will play in the main draw’s first round against Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri on Thursday.

British number two Cameron Norrie will face Australia’s Jordan Thompson in the first round, while British number one Kyle Edmund has received a bye to the second round where he will play Thomas Fabbiano of Italy or Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka.

Fellow Briton Jay Clarke did not progress from qualifying after losing 6-4 6-4 to Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India on a rain-blighted Wednesday at the Hard Rock Stadium.

Mischa Zverev progressed to the second round of the main draw after Nicola Kuhn retired suffering cramp while drawing 6-4 5-7 2-2.

Also in the first round, Janko Tipsarevic had a straight-sets win over Bradley Klahn 6-3 6-3, Hubert Hurkacz saw off Matteo Berrettini 6-4 6-3, Guido Andreozzi defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6 (3) 6-4 and Roberto Carballes Baena defeated Denis Kudla 6-1 6-2.

In the remaining qualifying matches, Thiago Monteiro beat Lloyd George Harris 7-6 (5) 7-6 (2), Andrey Rublev saw off Bjorn Fratangelo 6-4 6-4 and Casper Ruud beat Evgeny Donskoy 6 (2)-7 6-2 6-2.