Great Britain trail France by one point after James Ward suffered defeat to Gilles Simon in the opening match of the Davis Cup quarter-final at The Queen's Club in London.
Ward, whose teammates Andy Murray, Dom Inglot and Jamie Murray are all due to perform later in the tie, was on the losing end of a 6-4 6-4 6-1 scoreline.
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It was a tight opening set between the pair, but momentum swung in Simon's favour when he broke serve to give himself a crucial advantage.
The single break was all that was needed for the Frenchman to take a one-set lead, and he continued his dominance by grabbing his opponent's serve early in the second.
Ward could only muster one break point after two sets, but he squandered it as Simon took control of the court and sealed a double break in the third to race to a 3-0 lead.
It was not Ward's day as he relinquished the third set and a point for Britain in their quarter-final campaign.
