Heather Watson and Dan Evans both moved into the Australian Open second round, but qualifier Harriet Dart was beaten.

Watson came back from a break of serve down in the final set to beat Egypt’s Mayar Sherif 6-3 5-7 6-2 and reach round two for the third year in a row.

Dan Evans, the 24th seed, performed superbly to defeat Belgium’s David Goffin 6-4 6-3 6-0.

British qualifier Harriet Dart, 25, lost 6-3 6-0 to seventh seed and former French Open champion Iga Swiatek.

Watson, 29, will play 29th seed Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia after she edged out Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 3-6 6-3 7-6 (10-8).

Evans, 31, lost in the first round in Melbourne last year but broke the serve of Goffin, a former Australian Open quarter-finalist, at the beginning of the second and third sets on his way to victory.

He will play either Arthur Rinderknech of France or Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in round two.

Dart outclassed after good start

After coming through Australian Open qualifying for the third time in her career, 123rd-ranked Dart was handed another plum first-round draw which again put her on Rod Laver Arena.

She suffered a chastening debut in the 15,000-seater arena in 2019 thanks to a 6-0 6-0 thrashing by former champion Maria Sharapova, and lost 6-2 6-4 to former world number one Simona Halep the following year.

Dart, who won five matches in a warm-up tournament and qualifying this month, broke 2020 French Open champion Swiatek for a 2-1 lead in the first set and hurt the Pole with some classy winners.

But 20-year-old Swiatek found her rhythm, winning five games in a row to turn the match in her favour.

Source: bbc