James Ward beat Attila Balazs 6-4,6-4,4-6,6-4 but was constantly plagued throughout the match with sickness problems. At 5-4 up in the second, Ward had to leave the court to throw up. Having held to take the set, he started the third set disastrously by hurting his ankle and going 3-0 down. But Ward, playing in his fourth David Cup match, showed real spirit to fight off his health issues to win.
I think that it was amazing to see the effort and dedication that Ward showed. He showed courage to fight through so many health issues and win. Baring in mind that this event has nothing to do with his ranking. He showed a lot of pride to be representing his country.
Murray comfortably beat Sebo Kiss, 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 although he did squander a 5-2 leader in the third. Kiss, only a part time player now, fought hard in the third set to get it to a tie-break but Murray, world number four, managed to finish him off at the end.
The two things that were so amazing about today's match was the fight from Ward and the crowd's involvement. It sounded like a football game where chanting and banter was flying around. They really help Ward struggle through the last set to win. It also shows that tennis isn't all about drinking Pimms and eating strawberries. There was a real sense of grit and pride which invited the crowd to help as much as possible.
The tie will continue tomorrow as Ross Hutchins and Colin Fleming hope to capture victory and promotion to Europe/Africa Zone Group I, just one level off the elite nations of David Cup. Play starts at 1400 BST.
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