James Ward has suffered his seventh straight defeat since reaching the third round of Wimbledon and a career-high world ranking last month.
The Briton was beaten yesterday 7-6, 4-6, 3-6 in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open by South Korea’s Hyeon Chung, the world No 71. Ward’s poor run of form has seen him plummet in the ATP world rankings released today, dropping from 89th following Wimbledon to his current position at No 134.
After recent defeats against the likes of Gilles Simon, Alexandr Dolgopolov and Alejandro Falla, the British No 4 had been hoping for better at the Winston-Salem Open, the final ATP World Tour event before the US Open gets under way at Flushing Meadows on August 31.
The Londoner did manage to hit 16 aces past Chung, 19, but he was unable to capitalise on winning the first set and was defeated in just over two hours in North Carolina.
At next week’s US Open, the year’s final major, Ward will be making his first appearance in the main draw, having lost in the final round of qualifying for the last two years. He earned automatic qualification for the event when his world ranking was inside the top 104.
Advertisement
Alongside Andy Murray, Ward has been a Davis Cup stalwart for Great Britain. His wins in the past 18 months over Sam Querrey and John Isner of the United States helped to guide Great Britain to the semi-finals of the World Group.
Ward’s recent set of results will therefore be a concern for Leon Smith, Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain, in the build-up to next month’s semi-final against Australia in Glasgow.
If Ward is unable to find form at the US Open, Smith may decide to include Kyle Edmund in his team to face Australia. The 20-year-old won an ATP Challenger Tour event in Binghamton at the end of July and has broken into the world’s top 100 after a run to the semi-finals at the Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos, California.