Former British No 1 Dan Evans is out of Australian Open qualifying following a first-round defeat to Japan's Rei Sakamoto.

The 35-year-old was beaten 6-1 6-2 as he appeared to struggle with his serve.

He double-faulted four times and made just 48 per cent of his first serves, compared to Sakamoto's 74 per cent.

Evans fared little better on return, failing to earn a break point, while Sakamoto took five of his seven chances to break.

It's the second successive year that Evans has exited in the first round of qualifying in Melbourne. The only Grand Slam main draw he reached in 2025 was at Wimbledon, where he was given a wild card.

There was some better news for the British contingent in Melbourne on Monday as Arthur Fery beat Australian Edward Winter 6-2 6-4 to advance.

George Loffhagen joins him in the second round after claiming a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2) victory over Germany's Justin Engel.

Jack Pinnington Jones and Jay Clarke followed Evans out. Pinnington Jones lost in straight sets to Belgium's Gilles Arnaud Bailly, while Clarke also failed to win a set against Brazilian Gustavo Heide.

Elsewhere, Britain's Cam Norrie won his opening match at the ASB Classic in Auckland.

Norrie beat French qualifier Hugo Gaston 6-3 6-4 to set up a last-16 meeting with either Roberto Bautista Agut or Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Norrie is the fifth seed in Auckland thanks to his world ranking of No 28, and will be Britain's top-ranked male at the Australian Open in the absence of the injured Jack Draper.

Norrie produced a strong serving display against Gaston on Monday, making 69 per cent of his first serves and winning 88 per cent of those points to control the contest.

The 30-year-old created eight opportunities to break and took five of them to seal victory in an hour and 20 minutes.

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