DAN EVANS celebrated the best win of his career on grass after beating world number 13 Frances Tiafoe in the first round at Queen’s Club.

The 35-year-old kept his cool on a sun-baked Andy Murray Arena with a 7-5 6-2 victory.

It was the former British number one’s second career win over a top-20 opponent on grass, having knocked 16th-ranked Nikoloz Basilashvili out of Wimbledon six years ago.

Evans, now ranked a lowly 199 and mainly competing at lower-tier Challenger events, said: “It’s always amazing to play here. I was lucky I got the wild card.

“I didn’t know he was top 20 — but I knew he was very good. I’m happy to play some good tennis because it has been few and far between.

“Days like this are why I’ve been carrying on playing. I’ve been preparing really well and focusing on what I needed to today.

“It has been a long year so far. I’ve been playing the lower tournaments, but this is why I’m hanging around to try to get some wins on the grass.”

A run of five games in a row did the damage, with a neat serve and volley wrapping up a tight first set.

American Tiafoe had to retire from his first-round match last year after slipping over and injuring his hip.

It was Evans who took a tumble early in the second set, but he recovered to consolidate another break with an ace.

He had a stroke of luck when a forehand clipped the net and rolled over to clinch a second break, before wrapping up a notable win with a volley.

Evans will face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard or Brandon Nakashima in round two.

Meanwhile, French Open juniors finalist Hannah Klugman suffered a straight-sets defeat to world number 27 Yulia Putintseva in the first round of the Lexus Nottingham Open.

The 16-year-old Briton, who was runner-up in the girls’ singles at Roland Garros earlier this month, was beaten 6-2 6-2 by the Kazakh fourth seed in an hour and nine minutes.

Both players struggled to hold serve in the opening set on Centre Court before Putintseva, a three-time grand slam quarter-finalist, broke in the sixth and eighth games of the second.

Klugman was among four British women given wild cards for the tournament but was the only one in singles action on Monday.

Harriet Dart and Fran Jones have been drawn to face each other, while 17-year-old Mimi Xu will take on American Katie Volynets.

Two-time defending champion Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal received direct entry into the main draw and will also begin on Tuesday, against 2024 Wimbledon quarter-finalist Lulu Sun and France’s Leolia Jeanjean respectively.