Dan Evans: Some of French Open balls you wouldn't give to dog to chew

Great Britain's Dan Evans wasn't particularly thrilled with the balls used at the French Open after suffering a tight first round defeat at the tournament against former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori. 

"It's difficult, isn't it? It was cold. Some of those balls we were using you wouldn't give to a dog to chew," Evans claimed after the match, per Ravi Ubha.

"I think the balls are the biggest thing. Maybe they got it a little wrong with the balls. It's tough to get that ball to go anywhere."

Evans, seeded at No. 32, lost a tight opener as Nishikori won 1-6 6-1 7-6 (3) 1-6 6-3 to progress into the French Open second round.

"The end result was that I lost," Evans said, per Sky Sports. "I lost another first round which is a little disappointing and get ready for the indoor hardcourts."

After losing to Dominik Koepfer in the Rome Masters first round, world No. 28 Alex de Minaur picked up another first round exit as Marco Cecchinato beat him 7-6 (9) 6-4 6-0 in their French Open clash.

"I'm not happy with where I am, not happy with what I'm showing on court," de Minaur  said, per Ravi Ubha.

"So it's something that I've got to have a long hard look at myself in the mirror and figure out what's happening, and basically just fix it and get back to where I want to be."

Meanwhile, Diego Schwartzman makes positive start at French Open 

Schwartzman, who finished runner-up at the Rome Masters, demolished Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0 6-1 6-3 to reach the French Open second round.

"For me, playing at night, similar to Rome under the rain, under the lights, was similar to the last week, so I felt great on court today. For me, the conditions today were really, really good," Schwartzman said, per Ravi Ubha.

"Well, it's very important (to have played Rome), because I didn't start really well in USA, the first three tournaments I did, not well.

"But I'm feeling great. So Rome helped me a lot to get the confidence back."

Meanwhile, Stan Wawrinka dropped just six games en route to beating Andy Murray and he was happy to see some fans in the stands.

"We can be happy to be playing in front of 1,000 people. I have been playing only one match without fans, and it's sad...Today, honestly I was super happy to see some fans, to see some people here. I think that's great for us. That's great for the people," Wawrinka said, per Ravi Ubha.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3igSlJM