By Sam Millne
Liverpool tennis star Neal Skupski is out of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Skupski entered the ATP World Tour event with high hopes, having won the San Diego open a week previously, in which he partnered Joe Salisbury – the number three ranked doubles player in the world.
His partner at Indian Wells, Dan Evans, also has pedigree as the current UK number one in the men’s singles game.
However, the pair crashed out in their first match against Jack Sock and John Isner of the USA, 3-6 3-4, with the match lasting just 47 minutes.
The British pair began the match well, winning every point on their first serve in the first set.
Despite this, Sock and Isner broke Skupski and Evans’ serve midway in the sixth game of the opening set and didn’t look back after.
The next set started in a similar fashion, but the Americans broke again six games in and dominated the last few games of the match.
They now face Fabio Fognini and Lorenzo Sonego in the next round.
In the singles competition, Dan Evans has reached the third round alongside fellow Brits, Andy Murray and Cameron Norries, whilst Emma Raducanu lost in the second round to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.
