Smith hails Ward's fighting spirit

Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith saluted the fighting spirit shown by James Ward after he earned victory over Tunisia in Europe/Africa Zone Group II with a five-set triumph against Malek Jaziri at Bolton Arena.

The 24-year-old, Britain's leading player in the absence of Andy Murray, twice came from a set down and then recovered from a break down in the decider to record a 3-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 8-6 win in three and three quarter hours.

Smith said: "I'm very pleased with the way James managed to battle through at the end. It wasn't easy and he showed a lot of heart to get through. He did a great job."

Jamie Baker then saw off Slim Hamza 6-1 6-4 to complete a 4-1 victory in the tie but it was the performance of Ward, who was also battling the effects of a cold, that gave most cause for optimism for Smith.

The Scot said: "You're going to get matches like that and especially against a player like Jaziri. It was a tough match but it was a good match, I thought it was a good level."

Ward has been the player who has most taken advantage of Murray's self-imposed exile from Davis Cup, winning all but one of his six matches since making his debut in Lithuania last year.

Britain slumped to an embarrassing defeat in Vilnius but bounced back against Turkey last summer, where Ward beat top-120 player Marsel Ilhan, and the challenge for the 24-year-old now is to climb up from his current ranking of 214.

Smith is hopeful the triumph can spur on the Londoner, saying: "It's good for James, as it was last time around against Ilhan, which was a good win as well. He can take confidence from this and it can help kick-start things to improve his individual status as well, which is important because there's a lot of important tournaments coming up."

Ward, who heads off to a Challenger event in Sarajevo on Monday, was added: "I love playing for my country. It means a lot to me and I think you could see that out there with the celebration at the end. It was a great atmosphere.

"It was a very tough match, I had to fight. I didn't play my best tennis but sometimes when you're not playing as well as you can you dig deep and find something from somewhere, and in the end I came through."