The ATP Challengers & Futures page says this is a 15K, but the drawsheet and the ITF factshet say 15K+h, so I've gone with that.
Tough draw for James, nice draw for Ed:
L32: James Ward WR 551 v (4) Nicholas Monroe (USA) WR 348 L32: Edward Seator WR 507 v Luis Pablo Pechir (MEX) UNR (with the no. 8 seed likely to follow in the L16)
Monroe beat Aucks 4 & 2 in Vancouver Challenger qualifying last year, so has clearly improved since 2005 when he lost to Kennaugh and Fleming in consecutive tournaments.
Pechir has only ever won two matches, both in Futures qualifying against other unranked Mexicans and once lost a doubles match 1 & 4 to a pairing containing Amadeus.
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
L16: James Ward WR 551 beat Luis David Martinez (VEN) WR 889 by 6-4 3-6 6-3 L16: Edward Seator WR 507 lost to (8) Michael Yani (USA) WR 482 by 5 & 3
QF: James Ward WR 551 v (5) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) WR 481
Gonzalez lost 1 & 4 to Jamie Baker in the Joplin Challenger last year, 3 & 5 to Lee Childs in Nottingham in 2006, though he beat Big Arv in Wimbledon qualifying that year by retirement after Gonzalez took the 1st set tiebreak. Looking at his other results, he tends to nearly always beat players around Ward's level, but hopefully James is playing above his normal level this week and could make this interesting.
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
James Ward has reached the semis in Mexico, beating number 5 seed, Santiago Gonzalez.
James Ward WR 551 def (5) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) WR 481, 7-6 (4), 6-2
If this really is a 15K H event, as it claims (though the ATP website lists it as only a 15K), James has earned 8 points so far; that takes him to 47, and a provisional ranking of 525.
Next up is American, Ryler De Heart, world ranked 320 and the top seed.