James Ward, the British number four, once had to sell his Arsenal season ticket to fund his tennis career. On Thursday the son of a Camden cabbie cruised into Wimbledon’s third round, securing himself at least £77,000 from this year’s tournament and a coveted place in the world top 100.
After a four-set victory over Czech Jiri Vesely, ranked 66 places above him, the 28-year-old said winning his next match, at the weekend, “would probably be like Arsenal winning the league next year, to be honest. After that we start thinking about Champions League finals.