British number one Dan Evans fought back from one set down to beat Italian fourth seed Fabio Fognini in the Dubai Tennis Championships first round.

World number 37 Evans prevailed 3-6 6-4 7-5 in his first meeting with Fognini.

Unable to recover from 4-0 down in the first set, Evans rallied to win five of the final six games to take the second.

Both players lost serve twice in the third set before Evans eventually converted his sixth match point after two hours and 38 minutes.

Evans will now face Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the second round after the Frenchman also beat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5 6-2 on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Evans, 29, was knocked out of the Rotterdam Open at the quarter-final stage after losing to defending champion Gael Monfils.

Romania’s world number two Simona Halep beat Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the final of the women’s event in Dubai on Saturday to claim her 20th WTA title.

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