Jack Draper and Dan Evans have been knocked out of the Monte Carlo Masters to end British interest

British interest at the Monte Carlo Masters is over after Jack Draper and Dan Evans were beaten in the second round.

British No. 4 Draper went out after an exciting clash with 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz, who came through 6-3 6-7(3) 7-5, while British No. 2 Evans lost 6-2 2-6 3-6 against Ilya Ivashka.

Hurkacz seized the advantage early on against Draper in the first set after he followed a dominant opening service game by breaking to love, before following that up with a successive break of serve as he hurried into a 5-0 lead.

Draper, playing only his second ATP tournament on clay, found his way into the match with two service holds, as well as a break. However, the damage had already been done earlier in the set, and Hurkacz took the opener 6-3.

There was concern the second set would play out in the same way as Hurkacz forced a break point in the opening service game, but Draper saved it before getting a break of his own.

At 3-1 ahead, Draper missed four break points on the Hurkacz serve, before losing his own serve the very next game.

Both players tightened up on serve with the second set going to a tie-break.

Draper was broken on the first point of the breaker, but fought back with two of his own and when he unlocked a set point, the 21-year-old unleashed a vicious backhand down the line to take the match to a deciding set.

As the third set progressed with solid service games from both, Draper was the first to flinch as Hurkacz made the break to move 4-2 ahead.

A visibly frustrated Draper struggled to regain composure and slammed his racquet into the clay after an unforced error, before letting out a roar of anger after passing up an opportunity to break back.

However, a loose shot from Hurkacz saw Draper get the break at the second time of asking before an aggressive service game drew him level at 4-4.

Both players played the third set with huge levels of energy, with neither wanting to exit the competition, but as Draper served to take the match to a tie break, Hurkacz produced two incredible shots to earn himself a match point.

The Polish player finished off another extraordinary rally by volleying cross court to come out on top in a titanic battle.

Speaking after the match, Hurkacz said: “My game is maybe not where I want it to be but I’m putting in the work and definitely know that’s going to pay off and that tough match is going to make me stronger.”

He also had words of praise for Draper, saying: “Jack’s a really tough competitor. He always – no matter the score – brings the dance. It’s always a battle with him and no matter how much belief you have, he competes really well and he’s very resilient.”

British No. 2 Evans is also out after losing 6-2 2-6 3-6 against Ivashka, despite enjoying a scintillating start to their match.

Evans was quick out of the blocks, breaking Ivashka in the very first game of the match, before taking control by holding his own serve.

He proceeded to race through the first set 6-2 in just half an hour, finishing things with a booming serve straight down the T.

Evans was not to have things all his own way again in the second though, as Ivashka found the first break, before taking a 4-1 lead.

The Belarusian pushed his advantage home and, at the third time of asking, levelled the match with a further break of Evans.

A far tighter, more tense, third set ensued with neither player allowing the other to get close to breaking their serve.

That was until, with the scores level at 3-3, Evans mustered an opportunity to gain an advantage, but Ivashka shut it down quickly to hold under pressure.

This proved crucial as Evans was then broken in the next game, with Ivashka holding to complete an incredible turnaround and dump the British No. 2 out of the tournament.

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