Johanna Konta keeps British hopes alive in US Open qualifiers
- Published
Johanna Konta claimed an impressive win over Chang Kai-chen to ensure British interest continued into the second round of US Open qualifying.
James Ward, Josh Goodall and Naomi Broady all lost before Konta bridged a rankings gap of 91 places to win 6-3 7-6 (7-5).
The Australian-born 21-year-old switched allegiance this year having lived in England since 2005.
She will face Japan's Kurumi Nara in a second-round match on Thursday.
The first round proper of the US Open begins on Monday, 27 August.
Konta had made her Grand Slam debut as a Wimbledon wildcard in June, when she went close to upsetting 28th seed Christina McHale.
The Briton won five games in a row from 1-1 in the first set and despite suffering a break, eventually held her serve to take the set.
Konta, ranked 205th in the world, could not take three match points at 6-5 in the second set, but recovered from 4-2 down in the tie-break to win against her opponent, who was ranked as 8th seed in qualifying.
Ward lost in three sets to Russia's Dmitry Tursunov in the first round of qualifying. Ranked 250th in the world, Ward rallied in the second set but fell 6-3 2-6 6-4 to an opponent 107 places above him in the rankings.
Goodall lost 6-3 6-2 against Argentine Guido Andreozzi, while Yi-Fan Xu of China overcame Broady 6-4 6-2.
Elsewhere, Jonny Marray and Denmark's Freddie Nielsen, surprise Wimbledon men's doubles champions, lost in the last 16 of the Winston-Salem Open in the United States.
In their final warm-up before the US Open, the second seeds were beaten 6-3 7-6 (7/3) by Spain's David Marrero and Brazilian Andre Sa.
Britain's Heather Watson and New Zealand's Marina Erakovic reached the doubles semi-finals at the WTA Texas Open in Dallas with a 6-2 6-0 victory over Americans Jennifer Elie and Asia Muhammed.