Great Britain’s no.4 James Ward defeated Marsel Ilhan 6-2, 7-5, 6-7 (0-7), 6-1 to give the team a healthy 2-0 lead going into tomorrow’s doubles.
This crucial victory followed Jamie Baker’s convincing 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 win over Ergun Zorlu earlier in the day.
Having defeated Ilhan on two previous occasions, the 23-year-old Ward looked in confident mood in the first set breaking his opponent three times before taking the set 6-2.
Ilhan, who is ranked just outside the top 100, was not going to be out played by a superb Ward and managed to break immediately in the second. This lead did not last too long though as Ward powered his way back to regain a 4-3 advantage. A jostling of serve then followed until Ward crucially stepped it up in the eleventh game to take it 7-5.
With the cushion of a two sets to love lead you could have expected Ward to take his foot off the gas but instead he drove through the gears, breaking early to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
The match looked to be nearing its climax when Ward began to serve it out at 5-3, but the talented Turk had other ideas and produced some sublime shot making to break back. Ilhan then demonstrated his resistance again as he saved two match points to hang on in there and take it into a tie break.
The Brit then lost his nerve in the tie break and with it all seven of the points were available for the 23-year-old Turk to mop up and take it into a fourth.
This third set loss would have been tough to take for Ward but after a chat with new captain Leon Smith he came out fighting and subsequently broke the Turk's serve for the seventh then eighth time in the match. Despite dropping his own serve in the middle of the set Ward broke Ilhan again and then finally for the tenth time to take it 6-1 and with it the match to give Britain a comfortable 2-0 lead. (Click here to watch Ward's winning moment)
The confidence shown by Ward was built on the day’s earlier performance by Baker, who did not appear to break sweat against his 866th ranked opponent.
The British no.3 immediately showed his intensions as he dominated all aspects of the court to take the first set 6-1.
Zorlu managed to find his feet in the second, as he went toe-to-toe with the Scot until the sixth game, where the 24-year-old stepped up a level to crucially break and effectively seal the second set, which he went on to win 6-4.
It was an impressive display by Baker, who was back in Davis Cup action for the first time since Argentina in February 2008 and he went on to finish the match in emphatic style winning 6-1. (Click here to see Baker celebrating after win)
Baker said: “I was a bit nervous at the start as it felt a bit strange with me being the favourite to win. It’s very different to when I played Nalbandian that first time. But I get genuinely excited about playing these games and playing in opportunities like this one.”
After the fine work done by both Baker and Ward on day one the focus now turns to Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski in the doubles tomorrow as they have been given the chance to finally secure Britain their first victory in five.
Captain Leon Smith realises that the tie is not over, saying: "“It’s obviously a good start for us, but we will take nothing for granted. We have another important match tomorrow and the Turkish team will come out and want to win that, but we will be prepared for them.”
This crucial victory followed Jamie Baker’s convincing 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 win over Ergun Zorlu earlier in the day.
Having defeated Ilhan on two previous occasions, the 23-year-old Ward looked in confident mood in the first set breaking his opponent three times before taking the set 6-2.
Ilhan, who is ranked just outside the top 100, was not going to be out played by a superb Ward and managed to break immediately in the second. This lead did not last too long though as Ward powered his way back to regain a 4-3 advantage. A jostling of serve then followed until Ward crucially stepped it up in the eleventh game to take it 7-5.
With the cushion of a two sets to love lead you could have expected Ward to take his foot off the gas but instead he drove through the gears, breaking early to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
The match looked to be nearing its climax when Ward began to serve it out at 5-3, but the talented Turk had other ideas and produced some sublime shot making to break back. Ilhan then demonstrated his resistance again as he saved two match points to hang on in there and take it into a tie break.
The Brit then lost his nerve in the tie break and with it all seven of the points were available for the 23-year-old Turk to mop up and take it into a fourth.
This third set loss would have been tough to take for Ward but after a chat with new captain Leon Smith he came out fighting and subsequently broke the Turk's serve for the seventh then eighth time in the match. Despite dropping his own serve in the middle of the set Ward broke Ilhan again and then finally for the tenth time to take it 6-1 and with it the match to give Britain a comfortable 2-0 lead. (Click here to watch Ward's winning moment)
The confidence shown by Ward was built on the day’s earlier performance by Baker, who did not appear to break sweat against his 866th ranked opponent.
The British no.3 immediately showed his intensions as he dominated all aspects of the court to take the first set 6-1.
Zorlu managed to find his feet in the second, as he went toe-to-toe with the Scot until the sixth game, where the 24-year-old stepped up a level to crucially break and effectively seal the second set, which he went on to win 6-4.
It was an impressive display by Baker, who was back in Davis Cup action for the first time since Argentina in February 2008 and he went on to finish the match in emphatic style winning 6-1. (Click here to see Baker celebrating after win)
Baker said: “I was a bit nervous at the start as it felt a bit strange with me being the favourite to win. It’s very different to when I played Nalbandian that first time. But I get genuinely excited about playing these games and playing in opportunities like this one.”
After the fine work done by both Baker and Ward on day one the focus now turns to Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski in the doubles tomorrow as they have been given the chance to finally secure Britain their first victory in five.
Captain Leon Smith realises that the tie is not over, saying: "“It’s obviously a good start for us, but we will take nothing for granted. We have another important match tomorrow and the Turkish team will come out and want to win that, but we will be prepared for them.”
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