LONDON — British wildcard James Ward battled past Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic on Thursday to reach the third round of Wimbledon for the first time, delighting a vociferous home crowd.
The 6-2 7-6(4) 3-6 6-3 victory on a sun-baked Court Two moved Ward into the top 100 and meant Britain had more than one man in Wimbledon's third round for the first time since 2002, after his rather more celebrated compatriot Andy Murray also went through.
After winning the first set with some crunching shots Ward was made to work harder against an opponent ranked 66 places above him at No.