Heather Watson knocked out in straight sets by Tamara Zidansek; Dan Evans through after opponent withdraws

Heather Watson has been knocked out of the Australian Open in the second round after losing to Tamara Zidansek 7-6(4) 6-4 on Melbourne Park. The world No 94 was looking to progress to the third time since 2013 and overcame Egypt's Mayer Sherif in the first round, but she could not find a way past the No 29 seed who progresses after one hour and 48 minutes . Ad/> Momentum swung both ways in the first set as both players broke each other's serve.

WTA Indian WellsStephens fights back to beat Watson at Indian Wells06/10/2021 AT 23:06 At 6-5 up, Watson squandered a break point opportunity and the two headed for a tie-break which Zidansek won by three clear points. Both players broke each other again early in the second set before Zidansek started to hit back Watson's first serve earlier and it was working well for the Slovenian. At 4-3 down, Zidansek looked to have secured a decisive break when Watson double faulted, but the Brit broke back in the following game with the 24-year-old serving for the match.

But Watson's Australian adventure came to an end on her service game as her wide backhand sealed the match for Zidansek. Zidansek will play Alize Cornet — who knocked out No 3 seed Garbine Muguruza earlier on Thursday — in the next round. EVANS THROUGH AFTER OPPONENT PULLS OUT Dan Evans is through to the third round after his opponent Arthur Rinderknech was forced to withdraw with a wrist injury.

The pair were due to get on court at 2am GMT but the Frenchman, who reached the Adelaide final on Saturday, could not play on. /> Evans will play Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Felix Auger Aliassime in the third round. — — - You can stream the 2022 Australian Open live and on demand on discovery+.