James Ward ensured that there would be at least two British men in the third round at Wimbledon for the first time this decade, as he upset the Czech Jiril Vesely in four tight sets.  His 6-2 7-6(4) 3-6 6-3 took just over two and a half hours.  

Ward secures the first set

Having been given the reprieve of an easier first round tie after the fifth seed David Ferrer withdrew at the last minute, James Ward had grasped his opportunity with both hands as he came back from a set down to defeat the lucky loser Luca Vanni in the first round.  

And straight from the start he seemed to draw on the confidence from only his second ever win at SW19 as he served well and sought to attack any sign of weakness from his opponent.  Vesely, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable on the grass as his footwork continually let him down. 

This would prove telling as Ward held firm on his own serve, cheered on by a huge home crowd with his Dad, Jim, in attendance, before eventually breaking Vesely to steal the momentum.  

At times in the set, Ward was simply unplayable, utilising his massive groundstrokes and punishing the usually overpowering Czech into submission.  The pressure would prove telling, as again, 2-5 down, Ward would stave off a few game points before sealing the break and the first set. 

Vesely struggles whilst Ward keeps going strong

The second set would continue in much the same vain, with Ward playing strongly and continuing to grow in confidence, whilst Vesely struggled to impose his superior ranking over the man who had finally broken into the world top 100 with his victory in the first round. 

The set continued on serve right until 5-4 Ward with Vesely serving and a few break points down and Ward looking to race into a two sets to love lead. However, a few shaky points from Ward and some brilliant net-play by the Czech ensured he held and the set continued to a tie-break.

The tie-break proved crucial, with Vesely looking to build on his success on these in the first round whilst Ward lost to Vanni in one in their match. As Vesely raced into a 3-0 lead following poor serving from Ward, it looked like the tie-break form would repeat itself. But from nowhere, the Londoner clawed back the disadvantage before convincingly taking the second set. 

A timeout changes the match

At this point, cleary still uncomfortable on the court, Vesely was seen to by the trainer with a shoulder problem.  He looked in pain and struggled initially in the set. However, and in true tennis fashion, the match suddenly looked to be swinging the way of the Czech, as he finally broke Ward down - with his first break points of the entire match - and looked to be the man in control. 

The third set quickly got away from Ward, as he began to throw in more unforced errors, whereas Vesely began to play far more aggresively and held strong to  secure the third set. 

Now, it looked dangerously like Ward was on the verge of a collapse, with his opponent outplaying him in every department. The forth set played out as a cagey affair, with the British crowd anxiously watching on as their man struggled to find his first set form. 

But another timeout for Vesely would soon occur and after this, he never looked comfortable as Ward stepped in and sought to assert himself. And he did in some style, breaking Vesely before serving the match out in strong fashion, much to his delight.  

'Now it's done it's good because a lot of people will get off my back.  I just can't put it into words. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time.' He told the BBC after the match, referring to those who had questioned his awarding a wild card despite six first round defeats from seven attempts.  He will now have the chance to silence them even more, as he takes on either Vasek Pospisil or the enigmatic Fabio Fognini in the third round for a historic chance of making the second week for the first time ever. 

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About the author
Jack Haugh
Freelance sports writer, specialising in tennis.