Dan Evans won the all-British clash against Billy Harris in the opening round of French Open qualifying.
Former British No 1 Evans has fallen to 215th in the world and is playing in qualifying at Roland-Garros for the first time since 2014.
Harris is ranked more than 100 places higher at 103 and narrowly missed out on a place in the main draw by right but it was Evans who prevailed 7-5 6-3.
It was only the 34-year-old’s second singles win on the Parisian clay after a first-round main draw victory in 2022 and he will play French wild card Clement Tabur in round two.
Fran Jones continued her excellent form on the clay
Fran Jones, who has been in excellent form on the clay, is through to round two of women’s qualifying after a 6-2 6-3 victory over Croatia’s Lea Boskovic.
Jones recently clinched her second title on the surface this year at the W75 Prague. The British No 4 has won six ITF title since 2019 and her victory in the Czech Republic was the second of the year, after she picked up the W75 Vacaria back in March.
She next faces Japan’s Mai Hontama but there were defeats for Heather Watson, who lost 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 to Australia’s Daria Saville, and Jan Choinski, beaten 6-4 7-6 (7-5) by Giulio Zeppieri.
Players need to win three matches to make the main draw.
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