Evans is the British number five and world number 178
Britain’s Dan Evans lost to Russian Karen Khachanov in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship.
Evans, who received a wildcard for the tournament, had won all five of their previous meetings, including a five-and-a-half-hour classic at last year’s US Open.
However, world number 24 Khachanov triumphed 6-1 6-3 in one hour 20 minutes.
He will face Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in the second round.
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