Englishman Dan Evans has broken through for his maiden ATP title by taking down Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Murray River Open final.
The 30-year-old blitzed the Canadian third seed 6-2 6-3 in the Australian Open warm-up event at Melbourne Park on Sunday.
World No.33 Evans secured the triumph in 77 minutes to follow up his career-best 2020 where he posted eight wins against top-20 opponents.
It was sweet relief for Evans, who threw away three championship points in the previous tour final he played in.
“My team has been there through some not so good times, so thanks for that,” Evans said.
The 30th seed begins his Open campaign with a clash against countryman Cameron Norrie on Tuesday.
Evans has not advanced beyond the second round of the first major of the year since 2017.
The talented Auger-Aliassime continues to search for his maiden tour title with the 20-year-old having now lost all seven ATP finals he has qualified for and all in straight-sets.
World No.21 Auger-Aliassime has a first-round Open encounter with German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe on Monday.