Bright start not enough as Ward loses to fellow Brit Edmund at Wimbledon

Ward, who had to win three qualifying matches at Roehampton to make it to the main event, got off to the perfect start on Court No.3, breaking Edmund’s serve in the opening game.

Ward, ranked 869 in the world, was producing some powerful forehands and refused to look back, taking the first set 6-4.

But Edmund began to make his mark in the second set, winning it 6-3 as Ward failed to take a break point at 5-3 down.

Ward then paid for a slow start to the third set as Edmund made the most of his momentum to claim it 6-2.

And the 22-year-old, who is ranked 50th in the world, cruised to a 6-1 win in the fourth set to book his place in the second round.

Despite the defeat, Ward left the court with a smile on his face and he will pick up £35,000 in prize money as well as seeing his ranking rise by a projected 300 places.