Northampton's Ward makes it to Wimbledon
Northampton's Alex Ward has qualified for the first round at Wimbledon.
Ward secured a four-set win at Roehampton on Thursday, beating Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-1 to book his place at the tournament, which starts on Monday.
It is a fine effort from the 27-year-old, who is currently ranked 855 in the world.
Ward beat Egor Gerasimov of Belarus in the first round of qualifying before claiming a superb success against Japan’s Go Soeda in the second round.
And he battled back after losing the first set to Gabashvili, who is ranked 176 in the world, to secure a place at Wimbledon.
Barcelona-based Ward was in the first round of the main draw last year, losing to Belgian star David Goffin.
But he will now look to go one step further this time round.