Murray River Open: Dan Evans beats Jeremy Chardy to reach final

Dan Evans has now reached three finals on the ATP Tour

British number one Dan Evans raced past Jeremy Chardy in 60 minutes to reach the final of the Murray River Open.

The eighth seed beat France's Chardy 6-2 6-2 in Melbourne to reach the third ATP Tour final of his career.

He will play Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was similarly swift in dispatching rising French player Corentin Moutet 6-1 6-2.

Evans will begin his Australian Open campaign against compatriot Cameron Norrie on Tuesday.

Evans played two matches on Friday, beating Marcos Giron and Borna Coric to set up a meeting with Chardy.

He had lost his previous three matches against Chardy but dominated their latest, racing to a 4-0 lead in the first set.

Evans did not face a break point and served strongly, with the Briton not dropping a point behind his first serve.

• Can the Australian Open provide some light relief?

• Williams 'fine' for Australian Open as players withdraw from warm-up matches

• Live scores, results and order of play

"I was a little tired after yesterday so I was pretty happy with my concentration to come out and back yesterday up," Evans said.

He has lost his previous two finals at ATP level - he was edged out by Gilles Muller in Sydney in 2017 and squandered three match points against Radu Albot at Delray Beach in 2019.

He has never played rising star Auger-Aliassime in singles.

The match will be the Canadian's seventh ATP Tour final, although he too has yet to win his first title.

British pair Norrie and Jonny O'Mara lost their doubles quarter-final 4-6 7-5 10-3 to Brazil's Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico.

However, Jamie Murray and partner Bruno Soares advanced to the final of the Great Ocean Road Open.

The two, playing in their first tournament since reuniting for the 2021 season, won two matches in one day, including beating third seeds Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek in the semi-finals.

Murray and Brazil's Soares beat Dodig and Polasek 6-2 7-6 (7-0) and will play Colombian top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the final.

They had earlier beaten Alexander Bublik and Andrey Golubev 6-4 4-6 10-7.

There are six ATP and WTA events being played simultaneously at Melbourne Park to allow players to prepare for the Australian Open, which begins on Monday.

• Jamie Murray column: 'Entering a Covid-free world was weird'

Russia to face Italy in ATP Cup final

Alexander Zverev smashed a racquet during his defeat by Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev put Russia into the ATP Cup final with a 3-6 6-3 7-5 over Germany's Alexander Zverev, who destroyed a racquet during the match.

Russia had a 1-0 lead after Andrey Rublev beat Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6 6-1 6-2.

Zverev who received treatment on his lower back after taking the first set, smashed his racquet on the floor after being broken at 5-5 in the deciding set.

Despite getting the decisive break, Medvedev struggled to close out victory as he double faulted twice on match point and had to save five break points.

Germany claimed a consolation win in the doubles but Russia's 2-1 win saw them reach the final against Italy.

Italy beat Spain 2-0, with the Spaniards opting out of the dead rubbers match.

Rafael Nadal, who has been struggling with a sore back, once again sat out for Spain, as Fabio Fognini beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2 1-6 6-4.

Matteo Berrettini then extended his unbeaten singles run with a 6-3 7-5 win over Roberto Bautista Agut.

• Nothing is unplayable: Disability and the gaming revolution

• Eating With My Ex: Can they settle the score and go again?