Rd1:

J Ward (GB)(q) v P Gojowczyk (Ger)(wr:655)

Gojowczyk is ranked 212 places higher. He's 17, impressive ranking for that age. His best results have come indoors which is good news for James. He made a semi and a quarter-final in German 10Ks at the start of this year, beating Thiemo De Bakker in straight sets in one of them Last autumn he made a quarter-final in a 10K in Israel and a semi in Sweden and beat Lee Childs 2 and 4 in qualies for the Eckental challenger. His best result on clay came in Austria where he qualified and made the quarters of a 10K in June.

Last week in Lagos, Gojowczyk beat a qualifier in rd1 before losing to Norway's Stian Boretti (wr: 563) in 3 sets in rd2.

well done to Ward, real shame Irwin couldn't get through, must be soo frustrating to come so close (of course it will be equally/more frustrating for Ward if he fails to get a ranking point out of this).

The positive for James in facing a 17 year old is that they can often be very inconsisent have great weeks/matches followed by absolute shockers due to lack of experience...hopefully it's time for a shocker from this guy

Gojowcyzk bt Ward 6-3, 6-1

Gojowczyk will go quite a lot of distance from here, so it's not that unexpected.

How sick is it that Ward won't get a ranking point even though he has had to play five rounds?