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AEGON INTERNATIONAL

June 15, 2011

James Ward

EASTBOURNE, ENGLAND

J. TIPSAREVIC/J. Ward
6-3, 4-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. James, what are your thoughts on today?
JAMES WARD: I mean, at the beginning it was a tight first game, and I think that changed a lot. If I had won that game, maybe the set would have been different. But I still had chances. He had chances, as well, but he took them today.

Q. Do you feel that probably your best chance was last night, having leveled it?
JAMES WARD: Maybe, yeah. I was starting to play a bit better in the second set I thought. But again, like last week, the light stopped us and what can you do? You know, you come back today and it's a full set to play, same conditions for both. Just unlucky.

Q. Was it that bad out there yesterday?
JAMES WARD: Last night? Well, it was getting quite slippery on one side. There was a shadow on one side of the court.
But also, they said we probably wouldn't be able to finish, so we both agreed to play a full set tomorrow instead of maybe finishing one or two games today.

Q. Today aside, how happy are you with the way it's gone the last couple of weeks and looking forward to where you're going next?
JAMES WARD: Yeah, of course. It's been a great week last week, and I played well again here. You know, I'm playing Tipsarevic. He's not a low-ranked player. He's a top player. I lost in three sets, tight match.
Maybe last night would have been different, but you can't look back. Looking forward to Wimbledon and looking forward to the draw on Friday. Never know what can happen.

Q. Presumably that's what you were looking to do was to follow up your good work last week?
JAMES WARD: Yeah, of course. You try to win every week. It's not something you want to do, you know, just sit back and rest after one good week.
I also did well here last year, so it would have been nice to do that again, but it didn't happen. I look forward to playing again next week.

Q. Have you got enough matches on grass in?
JAMES WARD: I think I got enough last week and the week before in Nottingham. I think I'm quite well prepared. I need to rest a couple of days and practice, and I look forward to playing on Monday or Tuesday, which will be longer matches, five sets, so just get physically prepared for that.

Q. What do you feel you have learned most out of the last couple of weeks?
JAMES WARD: Learned? I don't know really, but I got a lot of confidence and belief in myself and know that I can do it now. It's a great time for it to happen just before Wimbledon and being at home in the best Grand Slam.

Q. Last week you were quite deep into it. Did you speak to Andy more than you would do normally?
JAMES WARD: Not really. We were both doing our own thing. You know, we played at different times. We swung around the club a little bit, but just the same as everyone else.
I think most people stick to their own groups. Like he's got his team around him; I've got mine. Everything was good. He wished me good luck and vice versa. It was just the same as any other week.

Q. Do you pay attention to how he plays?
JAMES WARD: It would be nice, you know. I would have watched his match against Tipsarevic last week, but he's a bit of a better player than me at the moment. He obviously knows how to deal with these guys on a regular basis and it's still new for me.

Q. You said "at the moment," so you're ambitious to try and be as good as him?
JAMES WARD: Of course. Why not? He's a top player. That's what everyone wants to do. As I said last week, there is a lot of people fighting to do the same thing. It's not just me.
Each week is a different challenge. Again, next week is another big challenge for me.

Q. You're thinking that's what you want to do. That's where you've got to start?
JAMES WARD: Of course. You need to be ambitious, and I am.

Q. What's your goal, looking past Wimbledon and maybe at the end of the season? Have you got any targets? Maybe top 100, top 50?
JAMES WARD: I think top 100 is my goal, which it was at the beginning of the year, as well. I didn't get off to the best start of the year. But again, if you look back on my results, I played a lot of good players, especially in Australia, and it's been a tough year.
But I kept the belief, and now it's starting to pay off a little bit. No reason why I can't finish the year in top 100.

Q. What has Diego said to you?
JAMES WARD: Nothing really. I just had a shower and came in here to speak to you. I'll speak to him after this.

Q. Looking forward to Wimbledon, if you can actually hand-pick it, would you want winnable matches or --
JAMES WARD: Of course.

Q. -- if you had the chance to play Rafa or Roger on Centre Court?
JAMES WARD: Winnable matches, you know. I'd like to get my ranking up, and that's the main thing, you know.
It's not about playing Rafa or Roger or Andy on a show court. I'm a professional. It's my goal to be a top player, as well.
If that comes about, then you just have to deal with it and see what can happen. You never know. You can beat one of the top guys, as well. There's no reason why not.

Q. Has it been sort of a motivation? I mean, over the last six months, people have said it's looking brighter on the women's side. But on the men's side, it's just pretty much Andy. Do you read that, and does it make you want to push you even more?
JAMES WARD: Not really, because I'm pushing myself all the time, you know. It's very easy for people on the outside to look in and criticize when you're not getting the results, but you just got to keep your head down and keep doing what you're doing. Then it's nice to show that the hard work does pay off sometimes.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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