Wimbledon round-up: Kyle Edmund victory ensures at least one Briton progresses on day two

Katie Boulter, Brydan Kelin and James Ward were all unable to join Edmund in the second round

Kyle Edmund beat Alexander Ward 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 (Getty)

There was always going to be one British winner on Tuesday, with Kyle Edmund playing Alexander Ward on No 3 Court, but one remained the extent of it.

Katie Boulter, Brydan Kelin and James Ward all lost but Edmund’s four-set win did at least ensure one more British player into the second round.

Edmund surprisingly lost the first set to the world No 869 but soon after found his rhythm to wrap up the next three sets and win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

This was the fifth time Edmund has been part of the men’s singles at Wimbledon but the first time he has got beyond the first round. As such, there was a genuine sense of relief for the British No 2 at the fact he had finally reached the second round here at the All England Club, where he will now face French star Gael Monfils.

“To actually say that I’ve won one now is nice, from a professional tennis point of view,” Edmund said. “It is definitely nice to do it, I’ve had enough losses, so it is nice to actually win a match in a senior event now.”

After so many failures at Wimbledon, Edmund was delighted to finally reward the home crowd with a win. “Unfortunately I've been in matches where I've been losing in front of a British crowd,” he admitted. “When you're losing you get down because you really want to do well. So it was nice today to play with some freedom.”

Elsewhere, James Ward put up a good fight against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis but lost in straight sets on Court 18, going down 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to the man who reached the semi-finals here in 2006. Ward is still on his way back from a nine-month knee injury absence and said he does not feel yet like he is playing his best tennis.

“It was a tough match,” Ward said, “but a definite improvement after only being back four weeks or so. I was definitely in the sets here. But it’s tough, it was a good level and Marcos has been playing well this year.”

Ward has lost all five matches he has played this year since returning and knows he has a long way to go after his nine months out. “I didn’t expect to be off for so long, and obviously it was gutting,” Ward said. “It was nine months, difficult, you can’t just come back in. The main thing is when you start winning a few matches, get a bit of confidence, and start feeling better and more sure about your game. Until then it’s definitely tough.”

James Ward was beaten in straight sets by Marcos Baghdatis (Getty)

Just two years ago Ward was ranked in the world top 100 but now he has slipped to outside the world top 1000. He knows he has a very long way to get back.

“I have come a long road,” he said. “There were times I never knew if I was going to play tennis again. It was tough, because you just don’t know when it’s going to get better. You see very small improvements, sometimes you go backwards, and now I’m at a stage where I’m not 100 per cent pain free, but I don’t know if I ever will be. So that’s what I have to live with.”


 Katie Boulter was beaten in straight sets by Christina McHale
 (Getty)

Katie Boulter lost in straight sets to Christina McHale on Court 12, and the British 20-year-old said that she was “completely devastated” to have lost but delighted with the support she got from the crowd. “The only word I've got for it now is ‘wow’,” Boulter said. “They really helped me out there today. They lifted me up when I needed lifting up, and I'm thoroughly appreciative of that.”

Brydan Klein, the Australian-British player, also lost in straight sets, going down 7-6, 6-3, 6-0 to Japanese Yuichi Sugita. Klein took the first set to a tie break but then struggled against the accomplished Sugita.