James Ward

James Ward (born 9 February 1987) is a British former professional tennis player.

He is a Davis Cup champion and former British No. 2.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Aegon International and the semifinals of the 2011 Aegon Championships as a wildcard entry.

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.

His best Grand Slam performance to date was reaching the third round of Wimbledon in 2015.

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.

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.