Published: 28 June, 2012
by STEVE BARNETT

WIMBLEDON warrior James Ward will be hoping he has a few more aces up his sleeve today (Thursday) when he takes on one of the world’s best players.

The 25-year-old, who grew up in Eversholt Street in Euston, was rewarded for his first-round victory over Pablo Andujar on Tuesday with an even tougher test against No 12 seed Mardy Fish.

Fish, however, has endured far from perfect preparations ahead of the summer showpiece, recently fearing that his career was over after suffering extreme heart palpitations.

Although the American has admitted his confidence is not what it was, Ward is refusing to take his opponent lightly. “He has had a hard game and he has had some health problems,” said the British No 2. “He’s 12th in the world. That guy can play whether he’s ill or if he’s feeling great, but I’ll have to deal with it.”

Ward has every reason to be confident having netted his first victory at a grand slam on Tuesday when he battled back to shock Spain’s Andujar in a five-set thriller on Court 14.

Trailing 3-0 in the final set, Ward showed tremendous spirit to hit back and win 4-6 6-0 3-6 6-3 6-3, knocking out an opponent ranked 137 places above him.

“Of course this is the biggest win of my career,” he said. “Wimbledon is the biggest tournament in the world.

“Grass isn’t Andujar’s favourite surface, but he’s 36th in the world and wins titles on clay for fun.

“He’s a good player and he competes very well. He didn’t give up on anything so it’s a massive win.”

Arsenal fan Ward squandered seven break points in the first set, while Andujar needed just one to break the Londoner and move in front after 49 minutes.

Ward hit back in style, wrapping up the second set to love in a little over 20 minutes, but the match swung back in Andujar’s favour when he took the third.

Ward only needed one break point to clinch the fourth set, but he was immediately under pressure in the decider as he found himself 3-0 down. He refused to give up, however, and sensationally won six games on the spin to set-up a momentous game against Fish.