By Niall Clarke
- James Ward and Aljaz Bedene join Andy Murray and Liam Broady in the second round.
- Brydan Klein and Kyle Edmund suffer straight sets defeats
- Ward and Bedene resume on Monday
There were mixed fortunes for the Brits on day two of Wimbledon, which saw James Ward and Aljaz Bedene both book a second round place.
Ward needed four sets to dispatch Luca Vanni out on court 12. The Brit fell down in the match when he lost the first set on a tiebreak 7-4, but fought back in the second earning a double break to seal it 6-2. With Vanni seemingly fading, Ward broke again in the third set to give himself the lead before serving it out 6-4.
The momentum was with the Londoner, who broke again in the fourth before sealing it on the Vanni serve to take the set and match 6-3.
Ward now finds himself in the second round, which would have been a surprise until David Ferrer unfortunately pulled out with injury. The British number four took advantage of that slice of fortune (or misfortune, depending the way you look at it.)
Bedene was made to work even harder for his victory. The Slovenian born man had to come from two sets to one down to defeat Radek Stepanek. Bedene was the first to strike when he broke serve at 5-5 before serving the set out 7-5.
The experienced Stepanek took control in the second set, breaking serve twice before saving two break points to serve out the set 6-1. That momentum rallied in to the second set where Bedene was broken for a third time at 2-2. The Czech then served out the set 6-4 to put the British number two in danger of going out.
Bedene rallied back in the fourth set to take it 6-3 which led to a decider. After over three hours on court, the Brit broke at 4-4 to give himself the opportunity to serve out the match. He made no mistake, taking it on the second attempt and booking a place in the next round.
British fortunes were not completely positive however as Kyle Edmund and Brydan Klein both suffered straight sets defeats earlier.
Edmund battled in the first set to take Alexandr Dolgopolov to a tiebreak, but the Ukrainian stepped up to take it 7-4. 15 games, 50 minutes, and a shoulder injury later, Edmund found himself heading for the exit door after being dispatched 6-1, 6-2 in the following two sets.
Klein fared no better against 25th seed Andreas Seppi. The world number 177 was always fighting an uphill battle against the seasoned Italian, and eventually bowed out 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Edmund and Klein should not be too ashamed of their efforts. They faced uphill tasks in two former top 20 players and were not fancied to overcome their higher ranked opponents.
Ward and Bedene can be proud however, and their victories mean that there are now four Brits in the second round of the men’s singles draw.
Ward faces Jiri Vesely in round two, whilst Bedene faces Viktor Troicki.
Ward and Bedene will take to court on Thursday to resume their campaign.