James Ward has claimed his fourth title on the challenger tour. His last title was 28th July 2013 and prior to that we need to go back to 2011 for a win. Ward who is currently British number 4 had a losing streak of 11 matches before winning his first round in the Mons challenger, last week.  

Ward coasts to victory 

After Mons Ward pulled out of the next event he was due to play in, but elected still to travel to India and Bangalore where he was second seed. After his first round opponent withdrew Ward faced Lucky Loser Lakshit Sood. This was a very straight forward win for Ward who obliterated Sood serving up a double breadstick. In the second round he was made to work a bit harder, but still came out with the win in straight sets. Ward progressed to the semi final without dropping a set.

The Semi final proved a tougher challenge and his first of the event when he played American Daniel Nguyen. The Brit lost the first set 4-6 and in previous events would have been steamrolled in the next, Ward though has found some form again and pulled this match back to seal the win in three sets, and set up his ninth challenger tour final. Against the top seed the Brit was not letting go, taking the first set 6-2. The second was far closer with no breaks of serve until the match stood at 6-5 with the American serving. Ward had three match points in this game and secured the win on the final one to take it 7-5.

This string of wins should surely stand him back in contention for the Davis Cup final second singles spot in November. The British #4 has been instrumental in getting Britian this far as other than Andy Murray he has played most of the singles rubbers. It was his win over John Isner in Glasgow in March that started the run to the final for the British team, it also meant that Andy Murray did not have to play in the doubles rubber and was rested well for the Sunday.

Ward's poor form on the back of his coach's illness 

Questions had been raised about Wards form as it had dipped from the high of reaching the top 100 in the Wimbledon fortnight, as from the US Open until Mons he lost 11 matches in a row. It appears now that he had a "valid" reason for the dip in form. An announcement from Darren Tandy who is Wards coach before the Bangalore challenger stating that he has cancer and has been unwell since the US Open seems to have come at just the right time. Ward no longer has to battle with keeping that news private and trying to win his place back in the Davis Cup squad.

Ward will play the Pune challenger next week where he is seeded fourth and faces a qualifer in the first round, before heading to South America to join Leon Smith and Kyle Edmund on the clay court challengers. It seems clear that Ward is back in contention for that second singles spot.

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