Dan Evans eased past Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi in straight sets to book his place in the main draw of the first major of the 2019 season and has been handed a very winnable first round against match against Japan’s Tatsuma Ito.

Should he come through that opener the 28-year-old’s reward would be a match with the defending champion Roger Federer.

There was also good news in the women’s draw with Harriet Dart successfully completing the qualifying tournament but she faces the 30^th seeded Maria Sharapova in her opener next week. The 22-year-old Dart beat Ivana Jorovic 1-6 6-3 6-1 to gain her place in senior draw.