James Ward has not had much luck over the past few months, with injuries stopping him in his tracks just when it looked like he might build on his Davis Cup heroics in April and crack on towards a place in the top 100.
A nagging foot injury means he is playing through some discomfort to feature at Wimbledon, hoping that a hefty dose of painkillers can get him through and boost his hopes of playing for Britain in the quarter-final against France the week after the tournament.
So the withdrawal of David Ferrer, the No8 seed, with an elbow injury was a welcome piece of good news for Ward, who has dropped to No4 in the country’s standings behind Aljaz Bedene, who recently qualified to play for Britain after switching allegiance from Slovenia, and the 20-year-old Kyle Edmund.