James Ward has given Great Britain a 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup tie with the USA after beating John Isner in a five-set thriller, edging the deciding set 15-13 after coming from two sets down.
Following Andy Murray's four-set victory over Donald Young, Ward was given the task of putting the team into a 2-0 lead.
© Getty Images
Isner started the stronger of the two by first clinching the opening set 7-4 on the tie-breaker and snatching just one break of serve to win the second set.
The third set was a tight affair between the two competitors with games going by way of serve, but this time it was Ward who was able to go a break up in the sixth game, which was enough to win the set.
A tense tie-breaker decided the fourth set and Ward stormed to a 4-0 lead before clinching it 7-3 and forcing through a decider in Glasgow.
The fifth set remained on serve throughout the first nine games, with Ward leading 5-4 heading into the 10th, but the American started to struggle with his serve, making a number of faults to bring up match point for Ward.
Isner twice fought back before finding two big serves to see out the game, and the set continued with few break opportunities for either player to reach 13-13.
Ward held serve again to force Isner to try to level, but a couple of early errors from the American allowed Ward to clinch the first couple of points, before holding his nerve to wrap up the game and match 6-7 5-7 6-3 7-6 15-13.
Danielle Joynson
