Weeks 26 & 27: Wimbledon men's main draw (grass)

RJA · Hall of fame

RE: Weeks 26 & 27: Wimbledon men's main draw (grass)

LouieG · County player

How far could Ward's career realistically go do we think?

Jaggy1876 · Grand Slam Champion

100-150 was always his limit. I said that even after his queens run in the semis a few years ago. Similar to Boggo who peaked at 107. Our only hope in the next 3-5 years is Kyle maybe Luke Bambidge and Josh Ward Hibbert but even then less than 50 per cent chance I'd say.

Spectator · All-time great

Nice article about Mr Edmund by Steve Tignor: http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/06/welcome-bigs-kid/48047/#.Ucij55wsw3x. Fair and sensible, as he normally is.

LouieG · County player

http://youtu.be/pY9b6jgbNyc sums up Ward today :(

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Well, I think that James could still become a top 100 player (probably around a WR 80 level).

I've no idea what he should do about the 'mental' part of the game, or what he's tried, or what he's willing to put himself through.

And the odds are almost certainly against me being proved right.

But he has another 4 or 5 years at his peak and I'm a believer !

PS So sorry, Bob in Spain - I waved until my arm dropped off but to no avail . . . .

johnnylad · Tennis legend

What happened to James' cage fighter personal trainer

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Wardy has the serve and weight of shot to be top 100. It's his attitude that I struggle to endure. I love how Dan will fistpump, shout, stare down his opponents and look like he is hungry for every point. Ward just looks like a deer in headlights, no sense of trying to really impose himself and take a lead. As good as he played it frustrates me to are
how he presents himself to his opponent. I bet if he had Bally, Dan or Heathers sort of attitude he would be a tough nut to crack. It's been a decent grass season but it's getting to late in the day to pat him on the back and say well played when I fail to see where he has improved and what his plan of progression is!? Real shame for me that match!

Edmund is a cracking player but was made to look average by janowicz who I think will go deep here. He is difficult to settle against and gives you no rhythm and is very much like a Cilic, del po sort of character with a game made for grass. I see him making 4th rounds vs Fed which could make for a cracker

Spectator · All-time great

Yes, Janowicz is the only person left in Fed's quarter whom I can see really troubling him. (Cue someone else's beating Federer ... or Federer blanking out Janowicz ... I'm wretched on predictions!)

DF · Tennis legend

Our players were not the only ones disappointed today. The seeds that fell were banking on these points.

As Nadal said it was not a tragedy but someone like Wawrinka and he expected to go through but our players really did not. Hopefully they will have enjoyed their experience and will learn from it for the future.

korriban · Challenger level

How many more times is the same thing going to happen to James? How many times in the past 20 years have we seen an England football team score the first goal against a better team, only to get deeper and deeper, resorting to a brave reargard action to try and hold the game. It's the same problem. It's not conscious, it happens with some people automatically.

As soon as James is behind in a game or set, he becomes aggressive, and is the better player. As soon as he has a break lead, or gets a break point, or a game point, he becomes uber-passive, desperate to keep the ball in play in the vain hope that the opponent makes an error. I didnt see him against Donskoy but I'll wager he did exactly the same thing.....stopped being aggressive once in a commanding position.

I genuinely believe most of the difference between players ranked 75 and 275 is how they play at key moments. Unless James hires a sports shrink to FORCE him to reverse his approach when leading or with break points, he will be stuck at 150-250 permanently. He really could make top 75-100, but I cant see it without a seismic mental shift

steven · Tennis legend

Very frustrating for Wardy today, but the way some people talk about him (here, at DC, on TV), you'd think he was one of the weakest players mentally GB has ever produced and never wins this kind of match.

OK, he loses to more top 100 players than he beats (that's normal for a player in the 150-250 range and something he clearly has to improve to get into the top 100, no argument about that) but he didn't get to the Queen's SFs by choking against higher-ranked players, he got a decent (but not easy) R1 draw at Wimbledon last year and took full advantage in a tight match (which is all you can really ask of WCs), he has won Challengers (not as many as he 'should' have, maybe, but a lot more than any of the other Brits in the last few years), he was amazing against Tursunov at DC this year and before that, he got GB back into EAZ Gp I almost single-handedly (including wins against decent players like Ilhan and Jaziri) in a period where no Brits outside the top 100 had been winning live DC singles rubbers at any level for years.

It's hardly surprising that players like Boggo and Wardy don't come over as super-confident when they get this kind of hammering from the media, etc, year after year, just for daring to be the 'best of the rest' in a country that is short of top 100 players.

scottie1 · Futures level

I thought Wardy did ok I dont think he is top 100 player but he is good to watchand has a good attitude. Lets face it most British players are average except for Andy Murray who even at 17 looked like a really great prospect. I think Kyle Edmund can be top 100 but the others definitely not.

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

steven wrote:
Very frustrating for Wardy today, but the way some people talk about him (here, at DC, on TV), you'd think he was one of the weakest players mentally GB has ever produced and never wins this kind of match.

OK, he loses to more top 100 players than he beats (that's normal for a player in the 150-250 range and something he clearly has to improve to get into the top 100, no argument about that) but he didn't get to the Queen's SFs by choking against higher-ranked players, he got a decent (but not easy) R1 draw at Wimbledon last year and took full advantage in a tight match (which is all you can really ask of WCs), he has won Challengers (not as many as he 'should' have, maybe, but a lot more than any of the other Brits in the last few years), he was amazing against Tursunov at DC this year and before that, he got GB back into EAZ Gp I almost single-handedly (including wins against decent players like Ilhan and Jaziri) in a period where no Brits outside the top 100 had been winning live DC singles rubbers at any level for years.

It's hardly surprising that players like Boggo and Wardy don't come over as super-confident when they get this kind of hammering from the media, etc, year after year, just for daring to be the 'best of the rest' in a country that is short of top 100 players.

I'm not trying to say that Wardy is mentally weak, as such, but he is certainly not mentally tough. Compare Lleyton Hewitts attitude vs Wawrinka - he looked like he would crawl over hot coals and sleep on a bed of nails before he gave up his lead and he never really gave Wawrinka a look back in, resulting in a straights set win. Wardy, unfortunately, freaked out virtually every time he had a lead/opening. We saw him go for the outrageous winner or make a sloppy error, when a mentally strong player would have built a lead. Lu didnt really have any main weapons..he wasnt able to blast Ward off the court and he wasnt ridiculously consistant, he was just a more solid player who was given the chance to relax EVERYTIME Ward should have been turning the screw and making him sweat.

Unfortunately for Ward he is British. If he was from Lithuania, for example, he would never have had the sort of media exposure that his British passport has given him. There probably are plenty of other players with his mentality in the top 150-300 who are capable of playing great matches and we just never see that, but with Wardy we have seen him play at the level he is capable of time and time again and yet he hasnt been able to sustain it. Therein lies the frustration, he is a damned fine player but could do with a Nino Severino type coach to address his mental game. As I mentioned, I dont think I've seen any real improvement from him at all in the last few years...he is still the same player, same game, same physique and same attitude and it is almost as if he is content with that and not bothered about improving, which I dont accept is truly the case.

Jaggy1876 · Grand Slam Champion

I feel sorry for the likes of Wardy and Boggo. They seem to be criticised for playing to their abilities. The fact is that everyone has their level it's nt just simple enough to say they choked or didn't try hard enough. I don't actually believe that I find it more down to the fact that tennis scoring always results in the best players getting the results. Both these guys are decent fellas putting in as much as they can to get to the level they are at. They don't deserve stick for not being better than they can possibly be.

Put simply they are not top100 players and never will be but I dot believe its their fault. It's the fault of British Tennis we don't have players with the ability to get there. Nobody criticises Carlisle United or Oldham Athletic for not being Premiee league teams.