(q7) James Ward WR 1139 is the only Brit seeded in qualifying here and is the only one to have won a match - he beat an unranked German in QR2 to reach the final qualifying round. Unranked Alexander Hutchings, Benjamin Levi and Adam Webb all lost to unranked players in QR1 while unranked Dominic Ross-Hurst had a bye in QR1 but lost in QR2.

The real reason I'm posting this though is that the big news from Cordoba is that Robert Dee also lost to an unranked player in QR1, but the real shock here (given that his ranking point is from a R1 WC loss in a Challenger) is that he took one set to a tiebreak, the first time he has managed that in 32 straight sets losses!

steven wrote:

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The real reason I'm posting this though is that the big news from Cordoba is that Robert Dee also lost to an unranked player in QR1, but the real shock here (given that his ranking point is from a R1 WC loss in a Challenger) is that he took one set to a tiebreak, the first time he has managed that in 32 straight sets losses!

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Robert Dee is really improving rapidly!!!! He'll be breaking people's serve next!!!

James Ward qualifies winning 64 62 in the final round

Ward has a chance here. His opponent has played on clay nearly all year, playing only 2 matches on hard courts. They have been his last 2 matches, where he lost to baccanello and menendez although they are both good players ranked 396 and 422.

Ward's record on hardcourts this year is 1-2 all at Futures level with his defeats coming against opponents ranked 331 and 436 and a win against Ruiz Gonzalez ranked 927, while Poch-Gradin is 0-2.

Ward has a chance!

Happycynic wrote:

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Am still in shock about Mr Dee.... may have to put him up for player of the month

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Well done to James Ward for qualifying, that's great stuff

Hopefully James can cause a really big upset and get a point for his efforts but I think it'll be very tough. Poch-Gradin is a leftie and last week he took a set off a player ranked 305, on Spanish hard courts. In September, he took a set off Luzzi who's ranked 151 and in July he beat Snobel [wr:222] in straight sets.



-- Edited by UltimateBoggoFan at 22:34, 2006-10-09

R2:

[2] Daniel Munoz de la Nava ESP v Q James Ward GBR

steven wrote:

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James Ward shows that it's possible to do to higher-ranked Spaniards on hard courts what they do to higher-ranked Brits on clay:

R1: (Q) James Ward WR 1139 beat Carlos Poch (ESP) WR 593 by 4 & 1

That's a very convincing win against a player ranked more than 500 places above him.

It now gets even tougher though:

R2: (Q) James Ward WR 1139 v (2) Daniel Munoz de la Nava (ESP) WR 301

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That's a superb win for James.

He clearly has the ability to play at a higher ranking than he has but when he gets there it will be for real unlike some of the Brits who get their points beating Namibian teenagers who are ranked higher than James.

A great grounding for himself in Spain. I hope he can step it up over the next year.