Dan Evans and Karen Khachanov made strong starts at the Qatar Open on Monday, while top seed Denis Shapovalov learned who his first opponent will be.
After just over an hour and a half, fifth seed Evans sealed a 6-4 6-4 victory over Egor Gerasimov in their first meeting on the ATP Tour.
Evans won 85 per cent of points behind his first serve and did not face a single break point as he advanced to the second round. Malek Jaziri or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will be his next opponent.
Following a tight opening set, Khachanov overcame Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 to continue his impressive form early in the 2022 season.
Alex Molcan came from a set down and navigated a second-set tie-break to defeat Chris O'Connell and earn a meeting with Shapovalov in the second round.
At the Open 13 in Marseille, home hope Richard Gasquet overcame Mikael Ymer 6-4 7-5 to book a meeting with Andrey Rublev in the second round. There were also wins for Stefano Travaglia and Ilya Ivashka.
