Ward was in sparkling form against Tunisia's Sami Ghorbel

Great Britain bounced back in the Davis Cup thanks to James Ward's straight-sets victory over Tunisia's Sami Ghorbel in Bolton.

Ward, who clinched the first set in just over 20 minutes, was in formidable form and strolled to a 6-0 6-2 6-0 win.

It was a crucial boost after GB's Jamie Baker lost the opening singles rubber.

Baker, ranked 406 in the world, took the first set 6-4 but Tunisian number one Malek Jaziri hit back to take the next three 6-3 7-5 6-2.

Baker, 24, opened his match in confident fashion and won his first five service games without giving up a break point.

The Tunisian, ranked 81 places higher in the world than Baker, then buckled when serving to stay in the set, producing two unforced errors.

Jaziri stepped up his play in the second set and broke Baker at the fourth attempt in the third game with a forehand winner. The 27-year-old Tunisian then added a second break in the ninth game of the set to level the rubber.

GREAT BRITAIN James Ward (ranking 214) Alex Bogdanovic (374) Jamie Baker (406) Jamie Murray (Doubles no.48) Colin Fleming (Doubles no.79)

Baker, who was selected ahead of Alex Bogdanovic for the second singles spot in the British team, missed two chances to open the third set with a break and he was made to pay for his failure to take his chances with Jaziri dominating the Scot's serve to open a 4-0 lead.

However, Baker retrieved one of the breaks with a forehand pass to end a run of six games in a row for his opponent and cancelled out the other with another forehand winner to trail 5-4.

Baker held his serve to level at 5-5 but Jaziri refocused and when a backhand return found the edge of the line, the Tunisian had secured a third break to take a 2-1 lead in sets.

Any hopes of a Baker comeback were quickly squashed as Jaziri raced into a 3-0 lead in the fourth set and, although he suffered cramp to his left leg, the Tunisian was able to close out the rubber.

"The last few games are just a blur," said Baker after the defeat. "I'm thinking it's going to be 3-3 and we're definitely heading for a fifth set but obviously the last couple of games he found his legs and he hit some ridiculous shots.

"I could play another five sets but just now my level of fitness is better than my level of tennis."

Following Baker's defeat, it was imperative for GB's chances that Ward recorded a victory against a player who does not have a world ranking and plies his trade in the US college system.

Ward, the overwhelming favourite despite his world ranking of 214th, stamped his authority on the contest immediately with a break in the opening game. He did not look back, wrapping up the set in little over 20 minutes.

Ghorbel could not get close to Ward's serve and a second break for the Londoner helped him secure the second set.

TUNISIA Malek Jaziri (ranking 325) Wael Kilani (1,196) Slah Mbarek (1,307) Slim Hamza (1,602)

The Tunisian fought bravely in an attempt to hold onto his serve at the start of the final set but Ward was simply too strong again, and he took his run of games to six with a second break.

Ghorbel was desperate to avoid a second bagel of the match but another lengthy service game went the same way, leaving Ward to serve out a straightforward victory after less than an hour and a half on court.

Davis Cup captain Leon Smith is confident Great Britain remain on track for victory with the score square at 1-1.

"I thought James did a good job and was very professional. It's not easy to play those type of matches," said Smith. "Jamie's match was a good one and I thought Jaziri played really well, his forehand's a big weapon.

"You always hope to win both matches and we could have won the first one. If you look at the rankings it was more of a 50/50 match where whoever plays slightly better is going to come through and that's what happened.

"But we have got a really good doubles team in Colin Fleming and Jamie Murray, they'll prepare in the right way, and we should be confident going into tomorrow."

Fleming and Murray will play Jaziri and Slim Hamza in Saturday's doubles rubber before the reverse singles on Sunday.

The winner of the Europe/Africa Zone Group II tie will go on to face Ireland or Luxembourg on 8-10 July in a promotion play-off.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version