• Wimbledon, Day Four

Heroic Ward falls agonisingly short against Fish

James Ward gave Mardy Fish a real scare © PA Photos

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James Ward came agonisingly close to the biggest victory of his career as he took tenth seed Mardy Fish to five sets in their second round clash at Wimbledon.

The British No. 2 twice came from behind, saving match point in the fourth set but despite a patriotic crowd on Court One urging him on, he was unable to pull off a heroic scalp as he fell 6-3 5-7 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3.

Fish, who has recently returned from heart surgery, looked to be on course for a comfortable victory after strolling through the opening set and carving up three set points in the second. But Ward, who refused to be overwhelmed by the occasion, hung on before breaking Fish with a forehand winner.

Ward's resistance looked to have faded as Fish took control, winning the third set before securing a break in the fourth, but once again Ward showed nerves of steel, saving match point before breaking back and winning the fourth-set tiebreak.

In the end, Ward was unable to sustain his challenge, and a single break of serve in the deciding set was enough for Fish to claim a hard-fought victory in four hours and 13 minutes.

British No. 1 Anne Keothavong failed to join Heather Watson in the third round at Wimbledon as she bowed out at the hands of Sara Errani.

Keothavong was left to rue 18 unforced errors as she was beaten 6-1 6-1 by the French Open runner-up. The 28-year-old, bidding to reach the third round of her home grand slam for the first time, succumbed to nerves in the early stages as she dropped her opening two service games. Although Keothavong began to settle, Errani made few errors as she rattled through the opening set in 26 minutes.

Keothavong had an early chance to break the Italian in the opening game of the second set, but she could not make her pressure count and struggled to cope with Errani's variety as she soon found herself a break down. A double fault handed Errani the double break, and the No. 10 seed made no mistake as she coolly served out the match in a shade over an hour.

Elena Baltacha made it a triple blow for British hopes as she was blown away by defending champion Petra Kvitova. The No. 4 seed raced through the opening set and although Baltacha was able to avoid a humiliating double bagel, she was well beaten as she bowed out to a 6-0 6-4 defeat in 71 minutes.

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