French Open Day 2 - Iron Man Robredo Too Good For Ward

James Ward has the potential to be a top 60-80 player according to his Davis Cup team mate and Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray.

Ward may have lost his first round match against veteran Tommy Robredo in yesterday’s French Open first round; however the current British number 3 showed plenty of signs that at 27 he could still for fill Murray’s prediction.

 Next up for Ward are the grass courts at Queens and Wimbledon

For a set and a half Ward, ranked 167 in the world, was in control of proceedings against the 17^th seed Robredo, a man who in last year’s competition became the first man in Grand Slam history to come back from two sets down on three successive occasions.

That remarkable achievement earned the Spaniard the nickname “iron man” and he had to show plenty of toughness to overcome an inspired Ward eventually winning a rain interrupted match 4-6 6-4 6-2 6-4.

Despite going down an early break of serve in the third game Ward didn’t panic and managed flip the match in his favour as he claimed the majority of points from the back of the court.

However Robredo who is competing at his twelfth French Open, where he has made five quarter finals had been in many similar situations. Once the Spaniard had wrestled his way to a tight second set his higher pedigree was clear to see.

Ward who had won three close matches just to qualify in Paris didn’t go away and demonstrated the same determination and fighting spirit which has helped him overcome top 50 players Dmitry Tursonov and Sam Querry in the recent Davis Cup ties.

But on this occasion it wasn’t quite enough as Robredo’s vast experience helped him produce his best tennis in the key moments.  As expected he proved a tough nut to crack for Ward on his French Open debut.

Nevertheless the Brit should take great confidence away from this last week in Paris, not only to qualify for his first major on clay but to once again go toe to toe with a top 20 player in a best of five set match.

Next up for Ward are the grass courts at Queens Club before his chance at Wimbledon in four weeks’ time.  A good run there is not out of the question and could make the Brit more of a familiar face at Grand Slam level.

The biggest story of the day came in the men’s draw where 3^rd seed and Australian Open Champion Stanislas Wawrinka suffered a shock four sets defeat at the hands of the Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

There were no such problems for the two overwhelming favourites Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic who both progressed in less than two hours with minimum fuss. Elsewhere Grand Slam debutant Facundo Bagnis recorded a memorable victory beating Julien Benneteau 18-16 in an enduring fifth set.

On the women’s side Maria Sharapova and former runner up Sam Stosur were both comfortable winners, while 5^th seed Petra Kvitova and Australian Open runner up Dominika Cibulkova also progressed.