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Britain’s Dan Evans says he is “the most confident I have been on grass for a long time” after sealing his second win over a top-50 player in as many weeks.

The 35-year-old, playing as a wildcard entry at Eastbourne, beat world number 49 Miomir Kecmanovic 3-6 6-4 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes.

It provides further encouragement for the former British number one, who recently regained his place in the world’s top 200 and has been given a Wimbledon wildcard.

After beating world number 13 Francis Tiafoe at Queen’s last week, Evans followed that up with a hard-fought victory over Serbia’s Kecmanovic in the south-coast sunshine.

“In whatever time I have left it is a work in progress,” Evans said of his recent performances.

Kecmanovic broke Evans twice in the 39-minute first set, but the Briton hit back at the start of the second, and celebrated with a massive fist pump.

Evans raised his game in the second set, getting 80% of his first serves in compared with 63% in the first and recording four aces. After being denied three set points, he took the fourth to force a decider.

He needed treatment to his right foot before third set commenced, but then broke Kecmanovic in the first game with a timely stroke of luck – the ball catching the net cord and dropping dead over the other side as the Serb could only look on exasperated.

Both men were below their best in the decider exchanging four successive breaks of serve, however Evans eventually held his nerve to serve out the match.

Ultimately he was more consistent than his higher-ranked opponent – Kecmanovic hit 33 winners to Evans’ 22, but the Serb’s 42 unforced errors were almost double the number made by the Briton.

Evans will play American second seed Tommy Paul in the next round.

It was good news for the Britons in the women’s singles too, as UK number five Francesca Jones beat Belgium’s Greet Minnen 6-4 7-5.

There was a major upset elsewhere in the women’s competition as top seed Daria Kasatkina was dumped out in round one by world number 46 Lulu Sun.

Reigning champion Kasatkina, representing Australia, was defeated 7-5 2-6 6-3 by the New Zealander.

Amid strong winds in Eastbourne, Kasatkina was badly out of sorts with 11 double faults.

“I was just going to give it my all, the conditions were tricky so anything could happen – the ball was swirling around!” said former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Sun.

Earlier at Eastbourne, highly rated Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca claimed his first ATP Tour win on grass by beating Zizou Bergs of Belgium in three sets.

Fonseca, 18, recovered from a bruising tie-break defeat in the opening set to claim nine consecutive games on his way to beating Bergs 6-7 6-0 6-3 in two hours and seven minutes.

The hype is continuing around the youngster labelled Brazil’s newest sporting superstar. Fonseca, ranked a career-high 57th in the world, attracted global attention by beating Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open in January and has admirers including Novak Djokovic.

He will have another chance to test himself against the world’s best in the second round at Eastbourne, where he will face reigning champion and top seed Taylor Fritz.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on grass,” Fonseca said after his victory. “Eastbourne is such a nice place.

“In the second set, he was in trouble and I was more confident. In the third we were both nervous, so I just needed to focus on my serve.

The first set lasted 66 minutes and was dominated by the serve without a single break point until the tie-break, which Bergs won 10-8.

However the Belgian’s level significantly dropped in the second set as Fonseca raced to 6-0 in 24 minutes, scoring 25 points to Bergs’ eight.

Bergs briefly halted Fonseca’s momentum in the deciding set, but a perfectly measured half-volley forehand dink across court moved the teenager 4-2 ahead before he served out the match.

Elsewhere, four-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one Naomi Osaka continued her Wimbledon preparations by beating Olga Danilovic 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) in Bad Homburg.

Sampdoria will remain in Serie B after the league awarded them a 3–0 win over Salernitana following the postponement of Sunday’s second leg relegation play-off.

The game was called off in the 65th minute with Sampdoria leading 2-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate after Salernitana fans threw smoke bombs and seats onto the pitch.

The decision by Serie B’s sports judge to award Sampdoria a 3-0 victory secured a 5-0 aggregate win and guaranteed their escape from what had seemed certain relegation to the third tier.

The former Italian champions were initially relegated to Serie C for the first time in their 78-year history in May before being handed a lifeline after the season ended when Brescia were docked eight points for a series of financial violations, dropping them below Sampdoria and granting the Genoa club a place in the relegation play-off.

Frustration for the home fans began during the early stages of the second leg when Gian Marco Ferrari thought he had scored the opener before the goal was ruled out for handball.

Four minutes, later Massimo Coda handed the visitors the lead before Giuseppe Sibilli made it 4-0 on aggregate just after the break.

The home fans in Salerno immediately turned on their team following the second goal, with relegation to Serie C looking all but certain, as flares, firecrackers and chairs were thrown on to the field.

Sampdoria will remain in Serie B after the league awarded them a 3–0 win over Salernitana following the postponement of Sunday’s second leg relegation play-off.

The game was called off in the 65th minute with Sampdoria leading 2-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate after Salernitana fans threw smoke bombs and seats onto the pitch.

The decision by Serie B’s sports judge to award Sampdoria a 3-0 victory secured a 5-0 aggregate win and guaranteed their escape from what had seemed certain relegation to the third tier.

The former Italian champions were initially relegated to Serie C for the first time in their 78-year history in May before being handed a lifeline after the season ended when Brescia were docked eight points for a series of financial violations, dropping them below Sampdoria and granting the Genoa club a place in the relegation play-off.

Frustration for the home fans began during the early stages of the second leg when Gian Marco Ferrari thought he had scored the opener before the goal was ruled out for handball.

Four minutes, later Massimo Coda handed the visitors the lead before Giuseppe Sibilli made it 4-0 on aggregate just after the break.

The home fans in Salerno immediately turned on their team following the second goal, with relegation to Serie C looking all but certain, as flares, firecrackers and chairs were thrown on to the field.