Two days in the Wimbledon sun, two heroic failures, two British players with a lot more credit in the bank than they arrived with.
Londoner James Ward’s third-round exit in five sets at the hands of Vasek Pospisil, hard on the heels of Heather Watson’s defeat by Serena Williams, will hurt all the more because, at one stage, he looked as though he was on the verge of striking deeper into uncharted territory. But well into the fifth set, his Canadian opponent steeled himself and, full of vim having worked his way back into the match from 2-1 down, broke Ward’s resistance with unerring accuracy and relentless serving, to prevail 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 8-6.