By Philip James
James Ward def Marton Fucsovics 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; Kun-Ming, China
James Ward reached the second round of the Kun-Ming Challenger by beating Marton Fucsovics today and in doing so, went some way to avenging his defeat at the hands of the same man just two days ago.
Ward lost to the Hungarian in the final of the An-Ning Challenger, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, on Sunday but today was able to reverse the defeat.
Ward rose 51 places in the rankings to 210 thanks to his run to the final last week and remains on the Chinese red clay in Kun-Ming this week.
Despite losing the first set, Britain’s number two fought back to win in three sets, 3-6, 7-5, 7-3 in a hour and 40 minutes with just one break in each set.
Both men struggled to make an impact on return, but it was Fucsovics, ranked 253, who was able to string enough points together to take a break and with it the set.
Both men created more chances in the second set and Ward earned his first two break points, taking the second, while saving three on his own serve to tie the match at two sets apiece.
From there Ward pushed on, holding his serve with ease now, while nabbing a break to win the set and the match.
His reward is a tough match against home favourite 21-year-old Di Wu, who is ranked 37 places above him.
It was a good day for Ward as he also won his opening doubles match; he and partner Ruben Bemelmans will face alternates Go Soeda and Yasutaka Uchiyama in round two.
Rome. Italy:
Dustin Brown/Rameez Junaid def Ken Skupski/Andreas Beck 3-6, 6-3, 10-4
Jamie Delgado/Andreas Siljestrom def Adrian Ungur/Adrian Menendez-MacEiras by retirement
There was mixed fortunes for Britain’s men in the doubles in Rome, as Jamie Delgado progressed but Ken Skupski was knocked out.
Skupski, who won a futures tournament with his brother Neal last week, started well with partner Andreas Beck, taking the first set 6-3.
Break chances were sparse in the second set but Dustin Brown and Rameez Junaid took the only break point of the set to force a deciding third-set tie-break, taking it 10-4 and with it the match.
Delgado and Andreas Siljestrom reached the final of the Tunis Open last week but did not have to hit a shot today as they won by retirement against Adrian Ungur and Adrian Menendez-MacEiras.
Delgado and Siljestrom were seeded second in Tunisia but are unseeded in Rome and now themselves face the second seeds in round two, Philipp Marx and Florin Mergea.