Dan Evans came agonisingly close to a first ATP Tour win as he failed to convert three match points at the Delray Beach Open in Florida.
Evans, who came through the qualifiers for the event, eventually lost 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 by serving a double fault to Moldova’s Radu Albot.
Despite the defeat, Evans, who returned to the game last April with no ranking after a year-long ban for testing positive for cocaine, today finds himself just outside the top 100.
The British No3 said: “It’s easy to say I didn’t take the match points but I don’t think I did much wrong.”
The loss came in only Evans’ second career ATP final, with his previous appearance also ending in defeat, against Giles Muller at the 2017 Sydney International.
Albot’s was his first singles ATP title, and the first ever by a Moldovan.
