Dan Evans: Nottingham hotel restrictions 'difficult'

British number one Dan Evans says he is finding the restrictions of the UK coronavirus bubble hard to adjust to.

Evans had expressed reluctance to sign up to another bubble following his defeat in the French Open first round, but accepted a wildcard to defend his ATP Challenger title in Nottingham.

Players are not allowed to leave hotel rooms once they return from the venue.

"To be stood outside the door of the hotel having some fresh air isn't harming anyone," he said.

"That's a difficult one for me."

Evans said being in Paris seemed more relaxed, despite the country still being under restrictions and curfews last week.

"It was great, you definitely take it for granted," he said. "Sitting in a hotel room is not the normal life.

"It's pretty nice to go for a walk by the Eiffel Tower for an hour. It was good but it is a little different here. Some interesting thoughts on standing outside the door of the hotel."

Top seed Evans, 31, overcame Australia's Matthew Ebden 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the grass-court tournament.

He will face Denis Kudla in the quarter-finals after the American beat Britain's Liam Broady 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2).

In the WTA Nottingham Open, British wildcard Katie Boulter continued her comeback with an emphatic win over the Czech number six seed Marie Bouzkova 6-4 6-3.

Her experience with the bubble life has been slightly different, despite the family home being just 25 miles away.

"Of course it's going to be difficult but I completely understand why the measures are in place," she said. "There's bigger things going on in the world right now.

"Obviously for me it's pretty hard to be back at my home tournament but for me it's a privilege to even have my family and my grandparents in the stands.

"So to even have that little home support means so much to me and I'm super lucky to even have that and to be back in my home town where it all started."

British number two Heather Watson, who had not won since the opening round of the Australian Open in February,set up a last-16 tie with Boulter by beating Tara Moore 6-3 4-6 6-2, but Harriet Dart could not capitalise on a fast start against American Lauren Davis, losing 1-6 6-3 6-4.