James Ward (born 9 February 1987) is a British former professional tennis player. He is a Davis Cup champion and former British No. 2.
He reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Aegon International and the semifinals of the 2011 Aegon Championships as a wildcard entry. His best Grand Slam performance to date was reaching the third round of Wimbledon in 2015.
In February 2009, Ward played what was then, the longest tennis match in history, lasting 6 hrs 40 mins, eventually losing to Chris Eaton. This was a play-off match to decide the Davis Cup team, but it was not sanctioned by the ATP so was not an official record, and it was broken later.
Ward was part of the Great Britain team that won the Davis Cup in 2015, the nation's first success in the tournament for 79 years. He played in wins against the United States and France in the first round and quarterfinals, which included a crucial singles victory over US' John Isner to give Britain a 2–0 lead. Ward was also named in the team for the Davis Cup final, and the Davis Cup team won the 2015 BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award.
Early and personal life Ward is the son of Jim Ward, a London black cab taxi driver. Ward started playing tennis at around 10 because his father played some social tennis every weekend at Temple Fortune Club in Hendon. Ward also played football, but chose tennis. The club didn't have a junior programme and because coaches costs money, Ward only played once a week. Ward would often be found at the Islington Tennis Centre in Market Road. During his early teenage years Ward was coached by Daren Quilty, Head Pro at Oakleigh Park Tennis Club in Whetstone, culminating in him reaching the semifinals of the Under-15s national championships.
After finishing his GCSEs at the age of 16, his entire family relocated to Spain so that Ward could attend the Equelite Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy near Valencia for four years, where he practised with former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero. In 2007, Ward's father fell ill, causing a downturn in their finances, but the academy allowed Ward to stay.
Ward enjoys playing on clay more than any other surface and currently trains in London.
Ward is famous for wearing colourful tennis shirts, after forming a bond with London designer Ted Baker, otherwise known as Ray Kelvin.
Ward is a fan of Arsenal F.C. At one time, Ward was so strapped for cash he had to sell his Gunners season ticket to help pay for his tennis career.
Career He made his first tour appearance in Valencia in 2007 as a wild card but lost in the first round.
Ward qualified for only his second ATP tour event, the 2008 Stella Artois Championships at the Queen's Club in London. In the first round on 9 June he met former US Open and Australian Open champion, Russian player Marat Safin. Ward took the first set after breaking Safin in the third game of the match and managed to hold his serve for the rest of the set to take it 6–4. However Safin upped his game in the second set, gained an early break and won the set comfortably 6–1. Ward was also broken early in the deciding set losing 6–4, 1–6, 4–6.
2009
In February, Davis Cup captain John Lloyd selected six Britons for a play-off contest, to find two singles players for the Ukraine tie. In these, Ward competed in a then longest match in tennis history, lasting 6 hours and 40 minutes, against Chris Eaton on 25 February. Eaton won the match 6–3, 6–2, 6–7, 2–6, 21–19, but it was not sanctioned by the ATP so was not an official record. It was exceeded later by the Isner-Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. This was the second time that Ward had played a five set match – the first occasion had been the previous Monday also at the play-offs.
In May, he became the first British player to win a challenger title on clay since Tim Henman in 1995. He beat Carsten Ball in the final of the Sarasota Open in Florida, USA. This win propelled him into the top 250 of the ATP's rankings, establishing himself as British No. 2.
In September, Ward was struck with glandular fever, and dropped to British No. 3.
2010 In March, Ward made his Davis Cup debut in the Europe/Africa Zone Group II tie vs Lithuania, in Vilnius, with Dan Evans, Ken Skupski, and Colin Fleming. The Lithuanian side entered the tie as underdogs; fielding a team of teenagers. Ward beat Lithuanian No. 2 Laurynas Grigelis and became the first Briton other than Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, or Andy Murray to win a live rubber since Andrew Richardson beat Zimbabwe's Byron Black in 1997. Evans lost the second singles match, Fleming and Skupski won their doubles, but Ward and Evans were both beaten on the final day. This was described as a humiliating Davis Cup defeat for Great Britain and led to the resignation of Davis Cup captain John Lloyd. Britain was then threatened with relegation to the third tier of the competition.
Tommy Peric became Ward's coach.
In June 2010, Ward reached his first ATP World Tour quarterfinal at the Aegon International, Eastbourne, UK. Ward beat second seed Feliciano López (who had beaten Rafael Nadal the week before) when López had to retire. He followed it up with a victory over the other man to lose at the semifinals of Queens the week before, Rainer Schüttler. He was eventually beaten by the young Ukrainian talent Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets.
The new Davis Cup captain Leon Smith selected Ward to take part in Great Britain's vital Davis Cup tie vs Turkey at Eastbourne in July alongside Jamie Baker, Ken Skupski, Colin Fleming, and Alex Ward (non-player). Defeat would have meant Great Britain's relegation to Europe Zone Group III. Ward contributed to the victory by winning both his singles matches, Britain eventually winning 5–0, and giving Great Britain a first Davis Cup win in three years.
At the Delhi Commonwealth Games in October, Ward became the first Englishman to play tennis in a Commonwealth Games. Seeded fourth in the singles, he beat Jamie Murray in the second round to reach the quarterfinals.
2011
Ward lost at the first hurdle in six of his seven tournaments at the beginning of this year. So when Leon Smith, Britain's Davis Cup captain selected his team for the Euro/Africa Zone Group II tie against Tunisia in March, he sprang a surprise, omitting Alex Bogdanovic, having recalled the 26-year-old to the squad after a three-year absence. Instead, Smith's singles players were Ward (No. 214) and Jamie Baker (No. 406), who had lost first time out in his last two events. Although Bogdanovic (No. 374) had lost all six of his live Davis Cup rubbers, he had at least won a Futures tournament in the United States that year. Ward played a key role in Great Britain's 4–1 victory, winning both his live singles rubbers, and ultimately clinching the tie by beating Malek Jaziri 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 8–6 in the fourth rubber.
At the Queen's Club Championships, Ward reached the semifinals of an ATP tour event for the first time. He defeated fourth seed and future Grand Slam champion Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets in the second round. Ward followed this up by defeating defending champion and 13th seed Sam Querrey, coming from a set down to win in three sets to equal his run at Eastbourne in 2010. Ward then defeated Adrian Mannarino in three sets, despite missing seven match points in the second-set tiebreaker. He was eventually defeated by Jo Wilfried Tsonga, having held a set point in the second-set tiebreaker. This was the first time two British players had reached this stage since the Open era began in 1968, the other man being Andy Murray.
At Wimbledon Ward entered as a wildcard, but lost in the first round to Michaël Llodra.
In July, Ward took part in the Davis Cup Luxembourg tie. Ward could not make good a ranking deficit of 106 places against world No. 81 Gilles Müller, and he lost the first rubber. Great Britain won 4–1, with Ward winning the dead rubber against unranked Laurent Bram, a full-time coach who played competitively when he could.
Following a short break, Ward's first tournament back was the Lexington Challenger. As top seed, Ward reached the final, losing to Wayne Odesnik. He was also runner-up in the doubles tournament. Two weeks later, Ward won the second Challenger tournament of his career at the 2011 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open, defeating Robby Ginepri. The win saw Ward rise to world No. 144. On 15 August ward rose to a career-high ranking of No. 140.
In September, Ward was selected for the Davis Cup promotion tie against Hungary. In the first rubber, Ward had a sometimes dramatic win over the visitors' No. 1 Attila Balázs. The drama came not so much from any searing quality of tennis, but from Ward's constant battle with cramping in his leg and queasiness that meant he had to nip backstage mid-match to empty the contents of his stomach. Ward had occasionally looked likely to default against an opponent ranked No. 262 in the world. With Andy Murray, Colin Fleming, and Ross Hutchins winning, Great Britain claimed a decisive 3–0 lead, and was promoted into Europe/Africa Zone Group I.
2012
Ward qualified for his first Grand Slam other than Wimbledon, but lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Slovenian Blaž Kavčič.
In February, Ward participated in the Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I tie against Slovakia. Though he lost his singles rubbers, Great Britain won 3–2.
Ward suffered from a back injury and was unable to play in the Davis Cup tie against Belgium.
On 30 April, Ward reached a career-high ranking in singles of No. 137.
Entering Wimbledon on a wild card, Ward won his first match at a Grand Slam, coming through a grueling five-set match to defeat the World no. 36 Pablo Andújar. He won the final six games after trailing in the final set 0–3. In the second round on Court No 1, Ward narrowly lost to World no 12 Mardy Fish in another tough five-setter, and received a standing ovation.
Ward had recently sold his £1300 Arsenal F.C. season ticket to fund his tennis, so he had some regrets after earning £23,125 for winning his first round Wimbledon match.
In July, Ward fell over in Newport practising, breaking his wrist, and putting him out for six months. His ranking fell from No. 140 to No. 280.
In December, the Lawn Tennis Association announced that Ward was the only player in Britain's top nine men to be funded for the following season.
2013
In January 2013, Ward failed to qualify for the Australian Open, reaching the third round of qualifying before losing to Julian Reister. Ward remained in Australia to compete in the Charles Sturt Adelaide International, where he reached the final, defeating top seed Yūichi Sugita along the way, before losing to home favourite Matthew Barton.
Ward was then selected for Great Britain's Davis Cup team for their Europe/Africa Zone Group I match against Russia in Coventry. Ward lost an epic first rubber to Evgeny Donskoy to give Russia a 2–0 lead heading into the doubles rubber the following day. The doubles pairing of Jonny Marray and Colin Fleming gave the home side some hope going into the final day of matches, where Ward opened the day. Ward stunned the much higher seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov to level the tie. Dan Evans would eventually complete a remarkable turnaround, with a straight-set victory over Donskoy. The last time Great Britain had come from 2–0 down to win a Davis Cup tie was 83 years ago against Germany, Consequently, Great Britain won a place in the 16-team World Group play-offs in September. Ward had to be placed on a drip to help him recover from his efforts. The following Monday afternoon, Ward was not feeling well so he was again put on a drip.
Ward kicked off his clay season in China, where he qualified for the An-Ning ATP $50,000 Challenger event and reached the final. His route to the final included a victory over fourth seed Josselin Ouanna. He lost to Hungarian Márton Fucsovics in the final.