Well, I thought that British Number 3 James Ward had gone off for a training block (a bit like Andy Murray is doing this weekend, when he heads to Miami). Shows what I know, sneaky James has entered into an ATP 250 in Bogota. Not only that but he is the top seed!
This is great news, it looks like James is now starting to think about the next tier with his tennis, as he is usually found around the challenger circuit. I've hoped for a while that he will move up a level and join the ATP tour. His tennis is there for this move and has been for a while. Secretly, I've hoped he would make this move since his fantastic performance at Petco Park in the Davis Cup tie against USA, where he scored what was the biggest win of his career to date by defeating Sam Querry over 5 sets.
As top seed in the Bogota qualifications he gets a bye into round 2. He will play either Santiago Gonzalez or Tigre Hank, both Mexicans, they play their first round match today.
I am so happy that James has chosen to play here, and that he is entering 250's on the ATP tour. Sure he has to go through qualification rounds at the moment, but if he performs well at them (and there is no reason he can't) it will do no harm to his ranking. I hope that he reaches the main draw, and secures a few wins there, his raking will rise and he will reach the point where he does not need to qualify.
Well done James, I'm proud you have taken this step up.