James Ward

Constant · Lower Club Player

RE: James Ward

indiana · Tennis legend

Also for anyone that doesn't know, you can see all the ranked Brits ranking points and counters ( plus non counters ) in date order in-house in the stats section ( thank you, Steven ! ) :

www.britishtennis.net/stats/ptdm.htm

A131 · Intermediate Club Player

''2015 has not actually been that bad so far for number of really 'bad' ranking losses with only the one against Zverev being against a player outside the top 200, but two of his three worst defeats have come since the Davis Cup so hopefully he can get back to at least 2014 general levels asap.''

The number may not be that bad but the fact that he lost comfortably in straight sets on all three occasions is - will admit that rankings don't always provide a fair and accurate reflection of somebody's form. You would have thought that, without being disrespectful, he would have got at least one set from the combination of Huta Galung, Chase Buchanan and Zverev. Like another poster said he seems to have performed better against the higher ranked players such as Seppi and Lopez where perhaps he feels (quite rightly) that he has nothing to lose so plays with less nerves and more freedom (Isner may well be another example of that - had the extra backup as well - team and crowd support which always helps and can give you an advantage)

indiana · Tennis legend

Cheers A131, I was trying to be as neutral as possible re the figs, which yes just looked at W/L vs rankings, since I was actually one suggesting that James had been inconsistent compared to 2014. So all good ( or not so good for James ! )

EddietheEagle · County player

Looks like Ward has some injury issues with his knee.

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-3016285/Andy-Murray-prepares-second-round-match-Miami-Open-James-Ward-ruled-two-weeks-sore-knee.html

Probably accounts for his slip in form of late. Minor knee tweaks can have a seriously disproportional effect on both movement and confidence.

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

EddietheEagle wrote:
Looks like Ward has some injury issues with his knee.

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-3016285/Andy-Murray-prepares-second-round-match-Miami-Open-James-Ward-ruled-two-weeks-sore-knee.html

Probably accounts for his slip in form of late. Minor knee tweaks can have a seriously disproportional effect on both movement and confidence.

Thanks. James has been such a star for us. I totally wish him a speedy recovery.

On a slightly unrelated topic, does anyone know whether he's invited to Andy's wedding?

LouieG · County player

James OUT of Le Gosier.

philwrig · Hall of fame

The injury makes sense, that match against Isner may have been his biggest victory to date, but its cost him in his objective to become a top 100 player in the short term anyway.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Thank the Lord he at least WON the match !

Just think how gutting it would be to have messed up his knee in five horribly long sets and to have come out as the loser . . .

Jan · Hall of fame

James has obviously not really been right since the DC. Hope he makes a good recovery soon.

Spectator · All-time great

Well, that does explain the past few matches. Hope that recovery is thorough and speedy.

A131 · Intermediate Club Player

Spectator wrote:
Well, that does explain the past few matches. Hope that recovery is thorough and speedy.

Not sure if you can use his knee as an excuse now - granted he did retire at the DC but surely it can't have been that bad in the three weeks since otherwise he should have either withdrawn before or retired during one of those matches.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

He wouldn't be the first player at his level to hope an injury wasn't too bad and would settle down with treatment between matches rather than to immediately commit to time off and subsequent loss of income.

A131 · Intermediate Club Player

The Optimist wrote:
He wouldn't be the first player at his level to hope an injury wasn't too bad and would settle down with treatment between matches rather than to immediately commit to time off and subsequent loss of income.

You're probably right - I know none of us know exactly what his financial position is or what his bank balance is like but I would have thought his situation isn't quite as desperate as in times gone by.

philwrig · Hall of fame

I've always said this, there are only small margins in tennis, even if you are still 95% fit, you are going to be at a small disadvantage, which will usually translate to losing a few more points here and there in a match.