Alex has got it back to 5-5.

Joss will be having a major mental wobble by now - one of the best at snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Keep focused, Alex !

How often does that happen!?

An unexpected break of serve followed by an immediate breakback.

Alex then saved two more match points in the Frenchman's next service game before Ouanna served out for the match.

steven wrote:

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Yes, great to see him living with this kind of player even in a hard court Challenger now. It shows what having a go at getting used to playing at this level can do

L32: Alexander Ward WR 355 lost to (8) Josselin Ouanna (FRA) WR 165 (CH 88 in 2009) by 3-6 6-3 7-5

-- Edited by steven on Monday 22nd of July 2013 03:47:45 PM

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Completely agree. It must be forcing him to play at a higher level for longer and longer in matches; and also to see and react to the things that much better players do to cross the line. He must be learning more and testing himself more per match than in Futures so he's bound to improve more quickly as a player. If he starts to feel like a Challenger player, he'll increasingly play like one too: he belongs. The important difference is that he's stuck at it, not tried it for a week or 2, then gone back into the comfort zone of Futures. Unfortunately, most of his peers seem to have taken the "easy" option.