Britain’s Dan Evans continued his preparation for the Australian Open by reaching the final of the Murray River Open.
The British No1 thrashed Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-2 to reach his third ATP Tour final.
After defeats in finals in Sydney in 2017 and Delray Beach in 2019, he will hope to make it third time lucky on Sunday when he faces third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is bidding for his first title in his seventh final.
Evans played himself into excellent form during two matches on Friday, the second of which brought him victory over fourth seed Borna Coric at the Australian Open warm-up event.
"I played pretty well today," said Evans, who took painkillers for a sore calf early in the match. "It was good to get a quick match. Obviously I had a pretty long day yesterday, so it was good to go through in straight sets.”
Evans has been drawn against fellow Brit Cameron Norrie in the first round of the Australian Open, which starts on February 8.
Additional reporting by PA.
