Australian Open: Heather Watson and Dan Evans through but Harriet Dart out in first round

Heather Watson and Dan Evans both moved into the Australian Open second round, but qualifiers Harriet Dart and Liam Broady were beaten.

Watson fought back in the final set to beat Egypt's Mayar Sherif 6-3 5-7 6-2.

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

Harriet Dart lost 6-3 6-0 to Iga Swiatek and Liam Broady was beaten 6-4 6-4 6-3 by home favourite Nick Kyrgios on a noisy John Cain Arena.

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 Arthur Rinderknech next after the Frenchman beat Australia's Alexei Popyrin 7-5 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-3.

It meant a lot to Broady to make it through qualifying and into the main draw for the first time, and he looked ready to enjoy the experience of facing Kyrgios on his favourite court.

Kyrgios, who tested positive for Covid-19 last week, started smartly, breaking Broady with ease in the first game, and there were his usual tricks — an underarm serve here, a through-the-legs shot there — as the Australian held the advantage to claim the first set.

The second set mirrored the first with an immediate break for Kyrgios, who maintained the advantage to take a two-set lead.

Broady exerted a little scoreboard pressure by holding at the start of the third set, but found himself broken before the first changeover.

Another break sealed the victory for Kyrgios, setting up a tasty second-round meeting with world number two Daniil Medvedev.

After coming through Australian Open