Edan Lashem follows Sela out of Washington Open

Israeli youngster Edan Leshem produced a battling performance against the world number 77 as he lost his first competitive match on the ATP world tour at the Citi Open.

The 20-year-old, who’s ranked 262 in the world, gave as good as he got in the first set, taking the first set to a tiebreak, before losing it 7-1. A four-hour rain delay then preceded the start of the second set, which was an entirely different affair, as his Cypriot opponent, who has been as highly ranked as 8 in the world, cantered to a 6-0 win in the second set.

Speaking afterwards, Leshem said: “Marcos played very good today, especially on the second set, and I didn’t come with enough focus for the second set after the rain delay.

“I just think I didn’t come back from the rain delay, I wasn’t there on the court, I didn’t play the tennis I did in the first set.”

Leshem’s defeat came less than 24 hours after Dudi Sela suffered a first round exit on Monday evening.