Former British No 2 falls at final qualifying hurdle; Former finalist Eugenie Bouchard reaches women's main draw
Friday 29 June 2018 11:17, UK
James Ward failed to reach Wimbledon after he lost to Benjamin Bonzi in the tournament's third qualifying round on Thursday.
The British player, ranked world No 363, had moved within one victory of the main draw after back-to-back straight-set wins at Roehampton but lost 6-4 6-2 1-6 6-0 to his opponent from France, ranked 160 places higher in the rankings.
Ward, a member of Great Britain's Davis Cup winning side in 2015, has returned to the circuit this season after being sidelined with persistent knee problems over the past two years.
The 31-year-old reached a career-high of world No 89 during an encouraging campaign in 2015, which also included progress to the third round at the All England Club.
Ward reached the final of the Challenger event in Loughborough last month and was bidding to become the only British men's player from qualifying to secure his spot in Friday's draw.
Dan Evans saw his bid to qualify ended by Matthias Bachinger on Tuesday, after the former top-50 player was refused a wildcard for the tournament.
Bernard Tomic suffered an emphatic 6-3 6-1 6-2 defeat by Ruben Bemelmans while Alex Bolt prevailed in an-all Australian contest against Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-6 [8-6] 7-6 [7-4] 4-6 7-5.
In the women's qualifying draw Eugenie Bouchard secured her place in the main draw with a convincing 6-3 6-2 victory against second seed Mariana Duque-Marino.
Bouchard reached the final at the All England Club in 2014 but has since suffered from a series of injuries and a loss of form to drop to world No 191.
The victory for the former world No 5 marks the first time since last year's Madrid Open that she has won three straight matches.
We will keep you up to date with all the news ahead of Wimbledon including our live blogs once the action gets underway on July 2.
Our next tennis action comes from the German Open in Hamburg. Watch the action live on Sky Sports Arena from Monday, July 23 from 10am.
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