China Open: Britain's Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans knocked out
Written by I Dig SportsBritish pair Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans have been defeated in the first round of the China Open men's singles.
Britain's number one Norrie, 28, was beaten 4-6 6-1 6-4 by Russia's fifth seed Andrey Rublev.
That came after 33-year-old Evans lost 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 to Italian sixth seed Jannik Sinner in Beijing.
Their defeats end British interest in the men's draw after Andy Murray was knocked out of the first round by Australian Alex de Minaur on Thursday.
Having lost the first set, Evans went on to level the match with a tiebreak but Sinner broke at 4-3 and was able to serve out the set for victory.
Norrie started well and took the first set but was no match for the Russian in the second set, who went on to complete the win.
Meanwhile Russia's world number three Daniil Medvedev will face De Minaur after he beat USA's Tommy Paul, while Dane Holger Rune also progressed against Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime, and will play Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in the second round.
Greece's world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten 6-4 6-4 by Chile's Nicolas Jarry.
Spanish Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz will take on Germany's qualifier Yannick Hanfmann later on Friday.
Elsewhere, four-time grand slam winner Iga Swiatek was beaten 6-2 2-6 4-6 by eighth seed Veronika Kudermetova in the quarter-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Japan, while world number four American Jessica Pegula beat Russia's Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-0.
And at the Ningbo Open, Tunisia's Ons Jabeur will face Russia's Diana Shnaider in Saturday's final after beating Argentine Nadia Podoroska 6-3 1-6 6-2 in their semi-final.