British number three James Ward suffered a straight-sets defeat by Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in the second round of the Dubai Championships.
Ward, ranked 177, was given a wild card into the event and beat Teymuraz Gabashvili on Monday to claim his first ATP victory outside the UK.
But sixth seed Youzhny proved far too strong in round two, beating the 27-year-old Londoner 6-1 7-6 (7-3).
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are in action later on Wednesday.
Third seed Tomas Berdych beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-2 6-1 to claim his eighth win in a row and set up a quarter-final against fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
