By Philip James
James Ward(Q) def Josselin Ouanna(4) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Jamie Delgado/Andreas Siljestrom(2) def Radu Albot/Benjamin Becker 7-6(6), 7-6(7)
Ryan Harrison(2) def Alex Bogdanovic 7-5, 7-5
Frederico Gil/Pedro Sousa (W) def Jamie Murray/John Peers 6-4, 6-4
It has been a mixed couple of days for the Brits on clay as James Ward and Jamie Delgado progressed in their draws but Alex Bogdanovic and Jamie Murray suffered defeats.
Ward posted perhaps the most impressive result, beating fourth-seeded Frenchman Josselin Ouanna to reach the quarter-finals of the clay-court challenger in An-ning in China yesterday.
Delgado followed that up with a tight two tie-break victory with partner Andreas Siljestrom over Radu Albot and Benjamin Becker in the quarters of the Tunis Open today.
Bogdanovic fought well but in vain against the highly ranked Ryan Harrison while Murray and John Peers lost to a wildcard pair in their first round match-up.
London-born Ward had to fight back from losing the first set 6-2 to Ouanna during which he made just 39% of first serves and did not threaten on return.
Ward is currently ranked 261st in the world, 103 places below his opponent but the two were level pegging in the second set, Ward improving his serve to win all but three service points, while seizing the one break point he created.
Ward did not let up in the third set, again dominating on serve while breaking twice to win the match 2-5, 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 25 minutes.
Ward, 26, had to come through qualifying to reach the main draw of the clay-court tournament in An-ning, China, winning two straight-set matches as second seed.
The British number two faces Danilo Petrovic in the quarter-final in the early hours of Friday and will expect to beat the 461st ranked Serb.
Bogdanovic faced an even tougher test than Ward, facing second seed Ryan Harrison in the second round of the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in Florida.
Ranked 279th and 198 places below Harrison, Bogdanovic lost 7-5, 7-5 put up a good fight, before being beaten by a late break in each set.
Second seeds Delgado and Siljestrom won their quarter-final on the clay courts Challenger in Tunisia today in straight sets but it was far from easy.
In match lasting an hour and 43 minutes, a veritable marathon compared to most doubles matches these days, there was only one break a piece and Delgado and Siljestrom won two tie breaks to seal their place in the semis.
Meanwhile in the doubles at the ATP250 Portugal Open Murray and Peers suffered a disappointing 6-4, 6-4 loss to home favourites Frederico Gil and Pedro Sousa.
Murray’s facebook page later reported that he had been fighting a virus since the weekend and will go back to London to get some tests done.