British number one Cameron Norrie began the defence of his Rio Open title with a straightforward win over Bolivia's Hugo Dellien in the first round.
The 28-year-old - who defeated Carlos Alcaraz to win the 2023 crown - took just one hour and 22 minutes to see off Dellien 6-3 6-2 and set up a second-round contest with Chile's Tomas Barrios Vera.
Norrie's success comes after he suffered a shock first-round exit to Federico Coria at last week's Argentina Open, as he clinched his first ATP Tour success since his memorable third-round Australian Open triumph over Casper Ruud.
"I think I managed my service games really well," Norrie said during his on-court interview. "I served much better than last week and I was a bit more patient and knew I had to play point for point and really make the rallies a bit longer.
"I think I learned from last week with that, and just happy to be back in Brazil. You said it was pretty straightforward, but I was absolutely dripping sweat. So it's never easy out here."
© Reuters
Clashing with Dellien for the second time in Rio, having come from a set down to defeat the 30-year-old in last year's quarter-finals, Norrie broke the Bolivian's serve in the fourth game of the match before seeing out a dominant opening set with an ace.
The former Wimbledon semi-finalist only faced one break point on his serve throughout the second set, during which he won five games on the spin after an opening hold from Dellien, who delayed the inevitable with a love hold.
An exquisite down-the-line forehand winner on match point punched Norrie's ticket to the second round, and further success for the Brits arrived at the Los Cabos Open, where Dan Evans posted a surprise win over Roman Safiullin.
Evans had been comprehensively beaten by the Russian in Chengdu last year but benefitted from an error-strewn display from the fifth seed this time around, triumphing 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 41 minutes.
The world number 42 made just six unforced mistakes compared to 17 for Safiullin, who also did his prospects of victory no favours with five double faults, including two in the ninth game of the second set.
© Reuters
That break for Evans marked the fifth consecutive loss of serve in the first-round match, and while the Briton handed Safiullin another break-back point while serving for the match with a double fault of his own, he held his nerve and booked his place in round two as Safiullin hit long.
"It's very tough to win in all of the tournaments on the Tour, so any win is good. To get another chance to play here is great and hopefully I can play a few more matches," the 33-year-old said in his post-match interview.
However, Evans has been denied a last-16 showdown with compatriot Jack Draper, who lost a three-set thriller to Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4 6-7[5] 4-6 in just under three hours.
Draper faced 10 aces and 43 winners from the on-song Australian while only posting 22 in the latter metric, and an agonising second set saw him break three times only to lose serve instantly.
The Brits are back in action on Tuesday afternoon, when Andy Murray will bid to end a five-match losing streak against Alexandre Muller in the first round of the Qatar Open.
