LAURA Massaro will take the positives out of defeat when she kicks off her defence of the Windy City Open title in Chicago on Friday.

The world number three was denied a third British National title in Manchester two weeks ago after suffering a shock defeat to Sarah Jane-Perry - her first professional defeat against her England team-mate.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The 31-year-old is still searching for the form that saw her win the World Open title last year but is experienced enough to know to focus on the good things rather than dwell on the bad.

“I wasn’t happy with my performances at the Nationals but the positives are that I made the final and still pushed Sarah-Jane all the way even though I was below my best,” said Massaro. “I can take positives from that.”

Massaro’s well-known fighting spirit was there for all to see in Manchester, battling back from 2-0 down to level the final before Perry dug deep to seal a famous 12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 10-12, 11-7 victory and lift her first national title.

But Massaro arrived in Chicago in confident mood knowing America has been a happy hunting ground for her in recent years.

She has won or reached the final of all the major competitions, including the Windy City Open which she won last year - beating Raneem El Weleily in the final.

“Yeah I enjoy America a lot,” said Massaro, who has also won the US Open, Carol Weymuller Open and the Cleveland Classic on her trans-Atlantic travels. “It’s a good feel with it being the same language and the food is easy with great variety.”

It will also be Massaro’s first tournament where she is seeded three after El Weleily replaced her as world number two in the most recent world rankings.

“It’s does take a little pressure off but since all that counts is playing my first round the same routines applies,” she said.

“Likewise, there is no pressure on me to defend the title.

“As far as I am concerned, It’s round by round but I am looking forward to Chicago because I have a nice memories there and it gives me confidence knowing I did well there last year.”

While she has yet to hit the heady heights of 2014, which also included winning two Commonwealth Games medals and helping England win the World Team Championships, she is determined to start reaching more finals.

“My consistency has been all right in terms of making two semi finals and a final since the beginning of January but I want to be making finals all the time,” said Massaro who will play Malaysian qualifier Delia Arnold in round one.

“If I want to do that, the key is concentrating on my own performance and on that match on that day.”