James Ward loses in first round of the Winston-Salem Open
Monday 24 August 2015 07:25, UK
James Ward suffered another defeat in his preparation for the US Open in New York after being knocked out in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open.
The British No 3 will kick off his Flushing Meadows campaign on the back of seven straight losses after going down 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-3 to Hyeon Chung in North Carolina.
Ward reached the third round of Wimbledon in July but has since lost to the likes of Gilles Simon, Alejandro Falla and Alexandr Dolgopolov - the Cincinnati Masters semi-finalist who took a set from Novak Djokovic on Saturday.
The Winston-Salem Open is the last ATP World Tour event before the US Open begins at Flushing Meadows on August 31.
Defeat to South Korea's world No 73 Chung does not represent ideal preparation for Ward, who did manage to fire down 16 aces during the two-hour encounter.
Also progressing to the second round in North Carolina were Sam Groth, Lu Yen-hsun, Santiago Giraldo and Diego Schwartzman.
Ward reached the third round at the All-England Club in the summer for the first time but lost in five sets to Vasek Pospisil.
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