FQR: James Ward WR 261 lost to (6) Ruben Bemelmans WR 187 7-6(3), 7-6(4)
Tough loss for James but did well to keep it competitive, he showed he can compete with the boys ranked in the 150's-200's so i think his ranking will end up there sometime this year. He wasn't expected to beat Ilhan so he got an added 6 points for his trip and 2 good matches against two players in the top 200
Shame for Ward to be edged out in two tiebreaks but a decent enough tournament with another good win over Ilhan, pushing another two 200 player, and picking up 6 more ranking points (and always an outside chance of a lucky loser spot as well), and all this on a surface that doesn't really suit his game.
Having played people who are at a higher level than him all year, hopefully it will help him when he drops back to the challengers and he should be able to have some good results and get that ranking up into the top 200 and beyond.
ive still not made my mind up on how far ward can go, for me im still scared by that queens performance(not the one v safin the year before). however there has been good progress this year, and i think he could possibly be british number 2 at the season end.