All-British matches have been few and far between at Wimbledon over the past 50 years – there have only been 18, in fact – which meant there was more interest than usual in the meeting between Kyle Edmund and Alex Ward here on Tuesday. Ward, whose world ranking has dropped to 869 after wrist injuries, took the first set before his rival won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.
But with Katie Boulter, James Ward – no relation – and Brydan Klein all going out, perhaps the best thing about the all-home match was that it guaranteed one Briton a place in the second round.
When Alex Ward, who came through qualifying, won the opening set, there were echoes of last year’s entertaining run by Marcus Willis, who reached round two when ranked No772 and lost to Roger Federer. Edmund, who had not won in four previous Wimbledon visits, looked nervous early on but the world No50 bounced back well and by the end he was a convincing winner. Ward will move up more than 300 places in the rankings for making the main draw while a relieved Edmund is certain to climb.
“It’s nice to get my first Wimbledon win,” he said. “The first set was tricky, even the first point he came out and really attacked me. It was just about trying to find ways, slowly turning momentum. Once I had that it started coming a bit easier, but well done to Alex, he qualified, he had a long injury lay-off and it’s good to see nice guys like him doing well.”
Ward said: “It’s been tough starting again this year from a low ranking. But experiences like this make the sacrifices all worthwhile. And today’s my mum’s 60th birthday, so playing that match was a nice present for her.”
James Ward, making his way back from injury, was beaten 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 by Cyprus’s Marcos Baghdatis while Klein was also knocked out in straight sets, ousted by Japan’s world No44 Yuichi Sugita, leaving Andy Murray, Jo Konta, Heather Watson, Aljaz Bedene and Edmund to fly the home flag. Edmund’s reward for his win over Ward is a meeting with the Eastbourne finalist and No15 seed, Gaël Monfils.
“It will be difficult for me to break him down,” Edmund admitted. “He has very easy power. At the same time it’s a grass court, so it’s a little bit easier to hit through the court because of the nature of it and also you can wrongfoot or get players out of position a little bit easier on the grass and finish the points.”
The other Briton on show, the 20-year-old Boulter, went home disappointed after she was beaten 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 by Christina McHale of the US, a woman ranked 178 places above her at No60.
Boulter, on her grand slam debut, showed more than enough to suggest that she may have what it takes to be back on this stage on a regular basis. A fine mover, with an excellent backhand, she fought back from 5-2 down in the second set to be two games from victory.
But McHale, the only woman to take a set off Serena Williams here last year, snatched the set and then from 2-0 down in the third won six of the next seven games to clinch her place in round two.
Boulter said she was “completely devastated” at losing but proud of her performance. “It’s something that will give me a lot of confidence moving forward,” she said, adding her thanks to Wimbledon after receiving a wildcard. “It will push me into the next bracket of where I’m trying to reach.”
