Day 1 Queen's

Hello, welcome to the Queen's Club and the 2014 Aegon Championships, as

the grasscourt tennis season gets underway. 12 months ago, Andy Murray

made sure he is -- his name was written on this board for a third

time. After a third title that was the foundation for even greater

glory. That is just a brilliantly worked

point from Murray. That was a beautiful shot.

That is a tidy game. That is it, third title at Queen's

Club for Andy Murray. A couple more seconds before the

drama unfolds. He is a brick wall! This is

magnificent. Murray has the answer for

everything. Just fabulous tennis. What point. What an afternoon,

history in the making. Novak Djokovic is the heat.

The waiting is over. Andy Murray is the Wimbledon champion! And you

simply cannot give more. And if Andy is to win his fourth

Queen's Club title to match the achievements of John McEnroe, Boris

Becker, waiting you it, he will have to get past a top-class field.

-- Leyton Hewitt. Stan Wawrinka is the top seed. The

loser in the first round at the French Open, the Swiss number one

wants plenty of grasscourt practice ahead of Wimbledon so accepted a

wildcard to play here. Thomas Burdick, quarterfinalist last

year and the 2010 Wimbledon Romberg -- runner-up.

He will be a tough opponent for anyone.

Ernests Gulbis is run to the semifinals of the French Open,

including beating Roger Federer, and secured himself a place in the

world's top ten. Will this month be the time we get

to see the fiery Latvian realise his potential on grass?

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is another without the title to match his

talent. He reached the final year in 2011.

Can the Frenchman make the final step up to me -- become the

champion? Winner two years ago, Marin Cilic

has had a tough time in the past 12 months.

Banned for drugs, but now back on tour, the lanky Croat will be trying

to reclaim his crown. Grigor Dimitrov certainly made an

impact on and off the court last year. Now to 13 in the world, can

the Bulgarian break into the world's elite?

And Lleyton Hewitt is at the other end of his tennis career, but is

back for another crack at this title. And after rolling back the

years 12 months ago he will be looking for another impressive run

this week. A glorious line-up, and glorious

weather to greet the opening day of the Championships here at the

Queen's Club in Barons Court, West London. Plenty for the crowd to

enjoy, let's hope the weather will last.

On Centre Court today, the top seeds all have a chance, but first up it

is James Ward, wildcard into the Championships, up against the

Slovenian GB in the third round of the French qualifying.

Then 33-year-old Jurgen Melzer, making his first appearance at

Queen's for six years come up against another wildcard from

Britain, Dan Evans. Another 33 old, Lleyton Hewitt, the

four-time champion will take on Daniel Gimeno-Traver. Then Feliciano

Lopez, the 10th seed completes the line-up on Centre Court today.

You can watch on the red button from 12:30pm, or you can watch with us at

1pm on BBC Two. This is the start of four weeks of

tennis here, Queen's, Eastbourne and Wimbledon over 200 hours of coverage

across BBC television alongside BBC Radio 5 Live and the excellent BBC

Sport website. I am joined by the excellent John

Lloyd and Andrew Castle. The grasscourt season is underway,

what a glorious start. Yes, we are getting away with it

today. The weather forecast is good, I think, most of the week, scattered

showers. Maybe showers today and tomorrow but

then better and better. Very warm conditions for the players, but that

is perfect because last year was quite rainy and very slippery, and

that is not ideal. No, we had all of those slips in the

first few days, a bit dangerous, to be honest, at times. Now it is

perfectly dry and hot conditions. This is perfect.

The best of three sets, perfect preparation week.

What a great line-up, too. The line-up is great, everyone wants

to see Andy Murray, he has not lost on a grasscourt since 2012.

He will be up on Wednesday, Stan Wawrinka, at the top of the draw, he

has a nightmarish Rosso we will see how long he is in for.

The tournament itself is all about getting a couple of hours on court

for the guys. -- nightmarish draw.

They have so little time between here and Wimbledon, it is a two-week

grasscourt season then it is the third Grand Slam of the year.

Every match is important, nothing to do with prize money, this is a

stand-alone and very important week in the calendar, a tournament they

love playing. Plenty to look forward to this week,

but what a French Open we had. The final yesterday, history made, what

an incredible record Rafael Nadal has.

I must say, I thought that Novak Djokovic was going to be the title

taker at the beginning. Then it came to the final and you realise that

best-of-3 set tournament are so different than best of five.

He loses occasionally in best-of-3 tournament, but best of five on

clay, you could see Novak Djokovic looking at Boris Becker and it was

like, what else can I do? The physicality of him, you cannot

wear them down. As soon as the temperature went up

or 29 on court, you just knew the top-spin was going to take effect.

It is this conditions. This guy, Novak Djokovic, beat everyone else

but cannot beat Rafael Nadal. And in Grand Slam finals coming year

struggled before, the fifth one he has lost?

The fifth in the last six. He was already a legend, for me.

Technically I think he is as sound as everyone, but that was

heartbreaking, and that idiot that called out between first and second

serve lest a bad taste for a few minutes. He was gentleman enough not

to suggest he would lose the match because of that, but the drama, the

sheer level between these two committees frightening.

The fact that Andy Murray has got in and won slams, this is an amazing

generation. Last summer this was Murray's

service, he won the title here then ended the 77 year wait for a men's

Wimbledon champion, but after that it went horribly wrong.

He had back surgery and split with his coach, Ivan Lendl, and just

yesterday announced he will be working with Amelie Mauresmo for at

least the grasscourt season. Andy, welcome back to the Queen's

Club. The site of three titles year, including last year.

Yes, it is always a nice place for me to come back to. I have some

great memories from here. It is perfect preparation for Wimbledon,

and I have actually played some of my best tennis here, one of my most

consistent tournament 's throughout my career. It is also the place

where I won my first ATP match. We have been waiting for a while to

find out who your coaching choice would be after parting ways with

Ivan Lendl. We now know it is Amelie Mauresmo, how did that come about?

Mauresmo, how did that come The last times I have looked at

cultures, I spoke to Darren Cave or quite a lot. I mentioned to him

quite -- that I was thinking about possibly a female coach. I did not

know a lot of the females that were playing around the last ten years --

ten years or so. I know Kim Clijsters, obviously, Amelie

Mauresmo a bit, so I just spoke to him a little bit about those players

and he thought that Amelie would be a good fit. We also came up with a

few other names, as well. Yes, after I spoke to her, I just had a good

feeling about it. For me it doesn't feel so different, because when I

was growing up obviously I had my mum working with me. I have always

had quite strong female influences in my career. I have found that,

with my mum especially, that she listened extremely well, and that is

something that I felt right now that I needed. I have started to listen

to my body a lot more, because over the years you start to pick up some

things and I think it is important that the people you worked with

respect and understand that and listen to how you are feeling, as

well, because you cannot just be pushed extremely hard every single

day. I need to pick my moments during the year when I really go for

it and train. That was one of the reasons, but for me it did not feel

like a strange thing to do, just because I grew up with a female

coach. What has the reaction been like at Queen's?

Have you spoken to the other players at all?

Yes, couple of people have come up to me and asked, because in the last

few weeks there have been a lot of different... You know, a lot of

different names of people, they did not know if it was true, or if it

was serious, so people were asking me if it was true or not.

Yes, I told them it was. But from the other players' point of view, I

don't really care whether they think it is a good or bad appointment, it

is whether it works well for me and my team. Hopefully it will be a good

move in my career. She has obviously been a Wimbledon champion.

What do you hope she will bring in the next few weeks? There are a lot

of things she can bring. I would not have thought it would be

incredibly full on, because we are still getting to know each other.

She obviously knows what it is like to play at our home slam, being

French, she has played the French Open a lot of times, and I think she

was quite open that she was struggling with the pressure. I

think that can also help, someone that has been through those

experiences themselves. She has won Wimbledon before herself and it will

be interesting. Well, you know that Wimbledon is

just a few weeks away, is it pretty exciting?

Yes, it is very exciting. It is a period of the year I always look

forward to, and I am not just saying this, but literally all of the

players when they come on the grass everyone seems to be happy. Towards

the end of the clay-court season everyone seems a bit tired and down,

mentally fatigued, but when you see everyone on the grass everyone is

smiling, everyone is happy, the sun is out just now, and it is a great

period of the year, I just wish it was a bit longer.

We are all very happy to be back and happy that the sun is still shining

today. An interesting choice. Murray never does anything straightforward,

does he? Ivan Lendl had never coached before and it worked. He is

one of those players that he would not have taken this on without

looking at what she could bring. Yes, he said he talked to Darren

Cave hell about it, who he has a lot of respect for. -- Cahill.

It will be the mental side, that is what Ivan Lendl brought to the

table. The mental side, and the mental side, Andy cutting out some

of those bits on the court where he would get angry with everyone and

all that stuff. I think Amelie Mauresmo has been there, she has had

the experience, it makes no difference whether you are a court

is coach. I am surprised there are not more women's coaches. It went

all back to Bobby Riggs with the women's coach. Why not? She is a

fabulous creature, you know. She has been through a lot. At the

age of 19 she declared, in her own way, she said at the time it was

clumsy, her sexuality, she had to deal with that with her family. She

had to deal with that in France and it was a big surprise and everything

else, but of course times change, it means nothing, it meant nothing then

because it is who you are, but she had to deal with that. Since then

she went to number one in the world and won two slams. The way she did

it was with this flair and expression. She found a way to win

and, for me, I think Murray has an awful lot of that in him. He finds a

way to win and looks to unlock an opponent. Andy has more game than

anyone playing, for me, in terms of the way he can change things around

at get under people's skin. But if this is only for the grasscourt

season, I hope he wins a few matches because it could be over in two

weeks. It is this week, next week and then Wimbledon he is first on

Centre Court. It could be the shortest coaching relationship of

all time. In the grasscourt season you go,

what do you want me to achieve? I won Queen's last year and Wimbledon,

so basically the same? I have not lost since 2012, good

luck. It is exciting, you can top about it

all day long and it is typical of Andy come it is very interesting.

We have heard from Andy, let's hear from Amelie and she explained how

this appointment came about. Andy contacted me a few weeks ago

and we started talking about this possibility to be working together.

It is not really something that I was thinking of doing when I stopped

being a tennis player. And then we talked again a little bit more about

how to do the things, maybe, about his game, about different things,

and we came up with the wolves from both sides -- with the will from

both sides to give it a shot. It will be a tough start, the rumours

were circling in Paris because she was spotted watching his opening

match. But that match he had, the semifinal

where he was destroyed by Rafael Nadal, it will be tough for him to

try and pick up from that. I think they will look at the

positive side. Was there one? Well, he got to the

semifinals at the French Open. He had gone in there one? Well, he got

to the semifinals at the French Open. He had gone in their unsure

about his form, and he got demolished by the greatest player of

all-time. He did not play well, apart from Rafael Nadal, he looked

physically and mentally like it was just one match to many, he looked

tired. I think he will be positive, the grass is coming up now got to

the semifinals and has plenty of matches under his belt.

We have plenty of time to talk about this this and we will revisit this

subject but we will head straight out to Centre Court now, because

James Ward will be coming out. He is serving to stay in this opening set

against Blaz Rola of Slovenia. He beat him in three sets in the French

Open qualifying, but he is in a battle here. Let's join this one and

in the commentary box for this one is Peter Fleming and Andrew Cotter.

Good matches so far, close match. A strange match, really, Blaz Rola

looked all at sea in his opening service game. He found his feet, he

found his grass paws and has looked pretty impressive. But James Ward is

hanging in this set. James Waters serving, 4-5. -- James

Ward. Yes, really thus far it has been

James Ward's experience, I think, of certainly playing on a grass court

against the power and aggression of Rola.

It perhaps was not a bad idea, but the execution was woeful.

Very nicely done. And I believe that is the first time

James Ward has served and volleyed today, we have seen it a few times

today from Rola. Slicing it out wide, forcing the one-handed return,

then a nicely played angled volley. There have been a couple of those

from Ward. That'll do, a PC one down the

middle. -- a speedy one down the middle.

The speed gun -- I am not sure if the speed gun is absolutely on the

money so far. 134 mph. It is impressive if it is!

Ward holds a couple of big serves to see him safely home in that service

game. Yes, you will look back on that game

with fondness. Those were two great service to finish things off.

A reminder of James Ward's pedigree, this is his seventh appearance in

this Championships. He has five first-round exits but one glorious

run to the semifinal in 2011, when he lost eventually to Jo-Wilfried

Tsonga. There it is, you see? The pristine

surface, but it can make you scramble around as if on ice.

Yes, and I'm not sure if Rola's split step was that efficient. It

looked as though he was just running in attempting to change directions,

and that is not easy. You can see the marks being left by

both players, some of them stretching out by a good few feet.

It is slippery out there. Well, Ward thought that ball was

perhaps long, but the lineswoman disagreed.

Confirmation from the umpire. He did it all welcome except for the

final piece of the jigsaw. -- he did it all well, except for.

Yes, years not afraid to give it a rip, is he?

Now Rola is going to have to fight hard on his serve.

sometimes. That can be costly, and James Ward has his first chance.

James Ward, not their, in any case. -- not there.

Timely first serve from the Slovenian. And nice to see just a

bit of touch, a bit of calm thought. him off.

This was an inpatient attempt to approach. He was not even inside the

baseline when he hit the backhand. He gave James Ward all sorts of time

to line that one up. there it is, this time Ward has the

breakthrough, so close now to this first set.

Yes, nicely played by James Ward. An extraordinary service game, really,

from Rola. He was up 40-15, appeared to be cruising, then was in control

of that point, missed the backhand, overhit it, missed it by ripping it

only an inch long, but did not need to be nearly as precise, then made

another couple of errors and Ward was in the battle.

Well, even though it is a different surface, of course, you can see why

these two Michael had that epic struggle in the qualifiers for the

French Open. Very evenly matched.

-- you can see why these two. James Ward has plenty of support

here, the majority of the crowd, and from those closer to him, Leon Smith

watching on, the British Davis Cup captain. He is nearest to as --

nearest to us. Sensibly applying lots of sun cream,

with his Scottish skin. Yes, porcelain like!

It is a nice day, even the threat of some rain later on, we are told, but

James Ward in a good position. He will be a very happy man.

He will just have to wait a little bit longer.

And there is the rower from James Ward, the applause from the crowd,

and the British number three has taken the first set, 7-5.

COMMENTATOR: First set to James, 7-5, continuing his impressive form

in Paris. A great line up here at the Queen's

Club and you can have your say of who you think will win this year's

title. You can vote for any of the names coming up on screen through

the BBC Sport website or using the relative hash tag.

The terms and conditions are on the BBC Sport website.

Make your choice and the vote will close at two o'clock this afternoon,

when we will bring you the results later.

There will win this tournament? But let's go back to see who will

win this match. COMMENTATOR: Hash tight knot

Fleming. Do you tweet? Do you know Twitter?

I am a Facebook kind of guy. James Ward, he started so well,

rather his opponent started poorly, but then you would have thought it

was the Slovenian who was looking stronger in that set, until the very

end. Yes,

stronger in that set, until the very end.

Yes, this match has plenty more to go. It was pretty interesting, I

think. Rola's corner will be disappointed with his shot selection

in the last couple of games. He just missed balls because he overhit

them. It is almost like his mindset is, I am hopeless if I don't hit a

winner can find not being -- if I don't have a winner, if I'm not

being aggressive. Ward is calmly slicing the ball back deep and

allowing Rola to hit himself out. We top about James Ward being

comfortable in this environment, he had a very good run here three years

ago, Diaz loved playing for Great Britain in the big Davis Cup

matches, as well, and his opponent, Blaz Rola, yes, he is on the way up,

in the top 100, but there still young guy, playing the challengers

and has such -- has had some success, but this will be an alien

environment for him. It is, I think you are right, Rola

has two things against him. He is a career ranking 91, so this

is one of the few tournament see it straight in on the main tour, so

just to play in front of this big crowd is a new experience, or

somewhat newcomer anyway, and of course this being his first match

ever, see is coming to grips with, what do I do out here?

James Ward will hope that he does not come to grips with it too

quickly, because he said I had some weaponry. He will serve to start the

second set. -- he certainly has some weaponry.

Yes, he has a lot of skills. Good first serve. Solid off of both

wings. And he moves well. He puts it together, he is a scary opponent.

will play Grigor Dimitrov, the number 4 seed, the Bulgarian, a

very, very talented youngster. Beautifully done. Rola not afraid to

come into the net, but Ward making a play. Yes, that of course is a very

difficult shot on a blustery day like today.

Wonderfully done. The longest rally of the match. Blaz Rola undone by

Ward's backhand slice. I like that, Ward just... Old school. Very calm.

That is almost new school, very few players will relax and just go with

the flow. But despite Ward's best efforts,

Blaz Rola holds. Yes, so little between these 2. We talked about

James Ward believing he can crack the top 100, but that is some holy

Grail in itself. I am sure he would rather go deeper into

Grail in itself. I am sure he would rather go deeper tournaments and the

rankings will take care of themselves. He is 27 now, he

believes that in his late 20s, he can kick on and get inside the top

100. 155th at the moment. Yes, and why not? He is certainly as

physically fit as he has ever been. As long as your body doesn't give

way, with each match you play, you gain a little more experience.

And Ian Ward's case, a little more confidence. I think that is the

thing that I think is crucial whether he gets into the top 100 --

in Ward's case. What I love about the early-season

grass courts is you have all sorts of wonderful technology now, you

have a heat map that can show you where the players have been, but

here you can see it in the scuffs on the court.

That had the pace, not quite the touch.

Exactly, it wasn't the greatest of drop shots.

A sitter. He has had a few of those today, and really failed on most all

of them. Yes, perhaps a little drop shot here would have done the trick.

A late call, but I think the umpire was pretty certain it was out as

well, but we are having a challenge from James Ward. It was a late call,

but a good one. And from a position of 40-0, Ward is up against it.

That return of serve, just slapped from Rola. Smooth that one back into

play, put the pressure on Ward. So eventually, James Ward holds.

Just lost his way a little bit in that game, but held his nerve.

Yes, really the difference. -- the difference thus far is that Rola has

become impatient at inopportune times.

That looked like it might be worth a challenge. You have two challenge in

a timely fashion, that was just about within the limit. -- you must

challenge. Just long enough to look over at his camp! Yes, worth a

challenge, but just long. Mr Rola has two challenges

remaining. He has got, at times, a very, very

gentle touch. He did well bear, had to improvise

and get down for that. -- did well bear. That was like John McEnroe,

James Ward trying to scrape the one-handed backhand into play. That

is a good hold for Rola. Again, so little between these two. Ward with

the first set in the bag. We talk about that match they had,

but epic tussle, 12-10, in the final set in the French Open. He became

the first British man to come through qualifying since... I don't

have to tell you who it was. I am not sure if I know anybody who was

old enough in 1973? Is it melon head? Is that your nickname for the

esteemed John Lloyd? It might be. And then he gave Tommy Robredo,

James Ward, gave Tommy Robredo a decent match. Of course, Tommy

Robredo, took him to four sets. So he has certainly had his moments,

James Ward. I mentioned the Davis Cup and what he has done here as

well. He is just on the cusp, he just needs a couple of rounds in a

Grand Slam and they really do start to accumulate the ranking points.

But also, as you say, more importantly, the confidence. Yes,

exactly, you have to get on a roll and perhaps Ward needs to play a few

challenges, I mean, he does, he has too, but often you come up here and

even though the rankings of the players are higher, the competition

is not necessarily any sterner. And as you say, you win a lot more

points for each match you win here. Just a bit of misdirection was good

enough. Good play by Ward but watch Rola's footwork, doesn't take a

split step, just keeps running. We didn't get a good shot of it.

It is so crucial to take a split step, on every ball, really.

Especially on a slick surface like this, because if you try and run and

then grip and change directions, the chances are what happened to Rola

there will happen time and again, you lose your footing. No traction,

can't change direction. Ward. -- hold. Batman watching his

lovely court being shredded -- that man. Yes, once again doing a

beautiful job with the court. A beautiful court and a beautiful day.

Still on top in the second set. Blaz Rola, from Slovenia. Serving.

Then one to the body. Moving along nicely now, Rola.

Found a good rhythm, lots of first serves carrying him on.

James Ward, I know he wanted to make some real headway in this grass

court season. He struggled a bit in Nottingham last week, although he

was up against a decent player, the American Steve Johnson. Then he went

down to Eastbourne as well to play in the Aegon International down

there. The crowd is swelling all the time, a huge stand here behind the

players' box, it stretches up. Up to a great height now. Yes, and it is a

good order of play. Ward and Dan Evans have both generated quite a

bit of interest from their Davis Cup exploits. Lleyton Hewitt, a

four-time champion here, always a great draw. So often, the Monday

orders of play are less than glamorous, but today it is nice. And

if the spectators were here earlier today, they will have seen Andy

Murray practising. So we are still on serve in the

second set. James Ward with the service.

That is where Rola, I think, let himself down a little bit. He

doesn't get enough returns of serve into play.

But when he does, he can be very good.

Just a bit wasteful on the return sometimes.

Perfectly placed. Not a lot of power on it.

A lazy smash puts it away and James Ward holds. I think it is going to

come down to a couple of crucial moments, who hold their nerve, who

makes a tiny mistake towards the end of the set. And I think Rola should

be thankful that Ward is a bit of a gentleman, because the crew took a

couple of steps in. I know a few guys who might have just tagged him.

Melon Head would have done it. Of course, it wouldn't have hurt.

Yes, very nearly pulled it off. It wasn't an easy shot by any stretch.

That is good. For a 136 mph serve... I think you might be

right, the radar gun might not be as accurate as some we have seen. Maybe

it needs a little fine tuning, because that was a slice serve. 136?

I don't think so. That was an overrule.

UMPIRE: Mr Rola challenging the call. I am not sure if this was a

fault. Comfortably in. That is an ace. James Ward chuntering away, but

he can't really complain. So Rola holds and moves on. We

talked about him having that college career, which is not long finished.

He was the NCAA singles champion last year at Ohio State. You are

losing precious years that you could be learning on tour, maybe? Yes and

no. There are pluses and minuses. If you go out onto the tour at 18 or

19, and you are not really good enough, ranked 300 or 400, you lose

a lot on a weekend, week out, and it takes a special kind of guy to work

hard and improve and not get frustrated or downhearted. So often,

if you go to a university and you have a good coach and a good

programme and you get to train as much as the pros do, it is more

nurturing environment. And so it often can be a great thing. I know

that when I was 18, I could no more think about succeeding as a pro than

fly. It was not close. Yet after a couple of years, I had improved

enough to where I could compete. So I think it works for a lot of

players. Did you have a college career? I did, I went to college for

three years. In fact, the very first year, I went to the University of

Michigan, Ohio State was our greatest rivals. We will talk more

about your college career later. Oh, please.

He has missed a lot of those balls. That is the sort of shot that we

wouldn't see Djokovic, Murray, Nadal, those guys... They miss a few

of them, but not dozens. What are those at the University of

Michigan known as? The Wolverines. A little cry of self encouragement

punches the air from Ward. He has his hold of serve. Comfortable

there, or rather Blaz Rola looked uncomfortable. Too many unforced

errors. Yes, it is pretty much a match of the boxer, James Ward, and

the puncher, Rola. He is the skilled shotmaker but he

is throwing in a few balls like that one, where you just think, huh?

A bit ragged now, Rola, but Ward is pressurising him. We mere mortals

have hit this serve a few times. You have to give Rola a bit of a break,

it is breezy out there. A sense of an opportunity now for

James Ward. He is certainly going to challenge

that one. Yes, this is a hopeful challenge.

Not 1 million miles away, but clear enough.

Second serve right on the line, challenge from James Ward.

That was clearly on the line, that is why Ward mis-timed the return so

badly. Rather desperate challenges here

from James Ward. It has got to Siegel-30 and he did not want his

momentum faltered. -- it got to zero -30.

That is worth a challenge. We are going challenge crazy here!

A busy old Hawk-Eye. Right, let's have a look.

Good challenge from Rola. And the cry, yes, from Ward, he will

have the break point. Furious tactics, really, from the Slovenian.

-- curious. Well, there it is, with a double

fault, James Ward has the break, and it is just a single game away from a

place in the second round. STUDIO: Just one game away from

going through to the second round. We did ask you to cast your vote for

who you thought might win this Championship.

The voting is now closed and we will bring you the result of it at the

end of this set or this match, which cover that is. James Ward will be

coming out to serve for it in just want.

Which ever is. COMMENTATOR: This would be a big

result this James Ward can see his way through.

Not necessarily in terms of ranking, Blaz Rola just 91st in the world,

but that will run in 2011 was the only time in six previous attempts

he has been passed the first round, so it would help in terms of ranking

points and confidence. Any time you win a match on the main

tour when you are ranked 155 is a great day. A real opportunity then

to accumulate more points, because the points essentially double with

each match you win. And you are not defending anything

from last year. It all helps. That was poor shot selection,

really, just tipped that one back crosscourt. A little nervous, play

the safe shot. Especially under these

circumstances, where Rola is just donating bolts left right and

centre. -- donating balls. Yes, don't have to do too much, just

keep the ball in play and wait for serve ice Rola mistake. -- wait for

a serve mistake. If he is going down, Rola, he is

going down slugging away. Some powerful ground strokes.

He had a chance there, Rola. Yes, he was the beneficiary of the

Winter fair, because the returns serve certainly looked as though it

was going wide, the wind blew it back into court. -- the beneficiary

of the wind. Just a couple of points required to

see him home. James Ward looking for a win for the

second time in all of his appearances here at Queen's to make

it through to the second round. Match point.

It is victory for James Ward in front of his hometown crowd. He

moves through to the second round, and he does so in straight sets.

Yes, a really professional performance from James Ward. He was

calm, collected, he chose the right shots and fully deserving of his

victory today. That gets us off to a nice start

here on Centre Court at the Queen's Club, the first match on this court

in this year's Aegon Championships, as the British wild card is through,

James Ward come in straights sets, 7-5, 6-4.

He moves on to a match with Grigor Dimitrov, the number four seed, who

will be a very tall order indeed. The main thing is he is there to

have another chance and another day here on Centre Court in front of

another big crowd. We have talks about that long run he

had to the semifinal three years ago. -- we have talked. Who knows if

he can do that again this year, but he certainly has a chance with a

victory over top 100 player. And look to the box to his father, who

is watching on, and to Leon Smith, the Davis Cup captain. In the Davis

Cup he has provided plenty of impressive performances, and another

one here today. James Ward safely through to the second round.

A straight sets victory in the end, let's see what James Ward thought of

it, he is talking now to Andrew Castle.

He is talking to me now readies. Good work, a British victory to

start our coverage here, congratulations, James.

How did that feel? Thank you. Never easy, first match

on the grass, playing in front of a home crowd, a bit of added pressure

but thank you for the support, it has been unbelievable, and I look

forward to hopefully recreating memories of a couple of years ago.

Indeed. You seem to play well here, what is

it about this court that you like so much?

I think it is the best grasscourt it is. I had the privilege to open up

the tournament to date that Michael today.

-- open up the tournament today. What about your next opponent,

Grigor Dimitrov question might have you played him before?

Yes, I played him a few years ago, maybe that doesn't count, but we

practised recently together, we will see how it goes.

Looking over your results over the first six or seven months of this

year, it is not easy surviving at the ranking you are yet you are such

a quality player. How do you keep going out there, is it days in the

sun like this question might yes, of course, there is no better feeling

than winning a match here at Queen's, winning at home, these are

the times you play for. I will carry on and see where I can

get to. Well done, mate, congratulations.

Ladies and gentlemen, James Ward. What really separates the great from

the good? Style? Of course.

Flair? Obviously.

Passion? That is a given.

Learn from your mistakes. Always think about what you have

missed. Never be satisfied with what you

have done. Whatever you do, do it with your

heart. I never thought about what I could

get out of football. I just wanted to play.

And the wait is almost over, the build-up to the World Cup continues

tomorrow night as Gary Lineker presents a special documentary on

the world's fascination with Brazil and the beautiful game, including

meeting the legend, Ronaldo. That is 10:35pm tomorrow on BBC1 HD.

The World Cup gets underway on Thursday, we will be back on

Wednesday night with a full preview of the tournament on BBC1 HD at

10:35pm on Wednesday. It is certainly tennis all the way

here and James Ward has won his opening match.

We asked you to vote on social media for who you thought would win the

title here at the Queen's Club in west London.

Those were the options and, surprise surprise, Mr Murray has come it on

top, 71% of the vote. Stanislas Wawrinka, the top seed,

has 11%, and going down to Grigor Dimitrov, 2% of the vote.

I am sitting here with John Lloyd...

Why is other above Marin Cilic? Anyway, I am here with John Lloyd.

Looking at that obviously Murray is the big favourite having won it two

or three times before, but outside of that who are the main

contenders? I think Stan Wawrinka, obviously, we

have seen what he can do and he is a good grasscourt player. He needs

this tournament, big-time, because of his dismal showing in the French

Open. He needs matches but he has the toughest draw by far coming

year. He could play Marcos Baghdatis in the second round and that is not

easy. I like the look of Grigor Dimitrov. That was amazing title run

he had there. I like the look of Grigor Dimitrov, he is another one

that needs matches because he lost in the first round of the French

Open and he is in desperate need. He is a very good grasscourt player. I

think Grigor Dimitrov may be the sneaky one, if you look beyond the

top two. He has a great game can everyone is

talking about him as the future of men's tennis.

The little girls that were following him, they absolutely loved him, he

got the number one vote in the all girls' department.

A great talent, isn't he? He is, he is one of those guys that

adapts well to the service because it is not easy to play on,

especially when it is as slippery as it is today. He may be one of the

top favourites, he may be second favourite, actually, for me, behind

Andy. I think Marin Cilic, of course, former champion here, also a

danger. And Thomas Burdick, as well. --

Tomas Berdych. I think so much depends on home

comfortable you are moving on this surface. I think Marin Cilic seems

to do it very well. Tomas Berdych, less comfortable on this surface,

and I think Stan Wawrinka, less comfortable than years on other

surfaces. Although, at Wimbledon...

Yes... That is fair to say, you did OK that year.

What about the big talking point in France, Ernests Gulbis? What can we

expect from him? He is so unpredictable, that is why

I like watching him, universal but he is going to do, he doesn't know

what he is going to do. He has the strangest forehand, and what a

weapon it is. He has a great dramatic backhand, to come he dines

around the place and is not afraid of anyone. He kept Roger Federer

waiting, did not care about that. He did not have great things to say

about Novak Djokovic, he grew up with demand was that the same

academy as him. He got in trouble about what he said

about the women, he said they should stay at home rather than being on

the circuit. I'm looking forward to seeing him play, because he is

dangerous. And he has also broken into the top ten for the first time.

He is riding high, very confident and has a great serve and terrific

backhand. Again, there is one of those guys you have to just wait and

see. How well will hear just to playing on this surface? I think

this year is a great year for Ernests Gulbis thinking, I do have a

chance. In so many previous years I think we have seen him come in

thinking, I am not playing very well, if it does not happen it

doesn't happen, and he almost woks through the month on grass and

hasn't really put in the best effort. -- the almost what this...

-- waltzes through. His attitude seems to be so much

better. These are some of the new names, what about the golden oldies

version Mike Lleyton Hewitt did amazingly well last year.

-- what about the golden oldies? Lleyton Hewitt did amazingly well

last year and looking for a fifth title?

He is amazing, he is one of those players that he gives 110% every

time he plays, and this is the best surface for him now to have a chance

to go deep into the tournament, grand slam or any other, because on

grass he knows how to move, he can get quick points comedy is

physically better for him. He could have run here. He is good on grass.

Looking back briefly to James Ward, I was looking at some of the

statistics, he played seven tournament this year and won less

than ?5,000 because it is the Challenger circuit.

He played before the French Open in Germany and reached the second round

and won ?485 prize money. You are trying to travel, pay for

your Hotel and keeper coach going, that match to qualify for the French

Open was huge. He is living on the fringes of what

is a very rich to. -- very rich tour.

Yes, I think that is something the tourist trying to address. When the

prize-money breakdowns were first brought up, they thought 150 players

should be able to make a living. That is still not the case and when

you consider how much more money is in the game now than there used to

be. I mean, when you watch the qualifying of these tenements and

when you see a guy ranked 200 against a guy ranked 300 and they

are really awesome players, they are great, and the only difference

between a guy ranked 200 and guy ranked 20 or 50, is just that the

guy ranked 50 has won a few more matches, you understand what it

takes to win and has more confidence. But the tour should be

able to support more guys who can afford to go out and play

full-time. All credit to James Ward, at age 27, to still keep on going

and think, I am going to break through, I can do it.

It is something the tour has to look at.

Yes, it is and we will see the headlines when we come to Wimbledon

if we see a British player losing in the first round, one of the things

they always talk about is whatever prize-money V2 corn, but what they

don't get is they have earned $7,000 in the first four months of the

year. I am sure we will talk more about

that through the week, but next is another Brit, the wild card Dan

Evans. Dan, welcome back to the Queen's

Club, somewhere you have good memories of from last year?

Yes, last year was a very good year, made this the third round had very

good matches and it set me up for the rest of the year. It was one of

the platforms, wasn't it? In the summer you went on and had a

great run in the Challengers below the main circuit and that led to the

U.S. Open. What are your memories of that time?

I got my game together out in America, on the hard courts, lost in

the first round in Lexington, got some good training and went on and

played to finals. It just went on from there, really.

Then the third round in the U.S. Open and before I knew it I was

playing really good, and it all just came together. What was that like?

You're obviously playing in the wrong below the main circuit, you

have played some qualifiers and had some success, but it must give you a

heck of a taste for what life could be like, because you are just

outside that top 100 and if you get inside it life changes.

Yes, at the time I don't really know what is happening, I am just day by

day playing the matches, and the more I look back I think it was a

pretty good effort what I did. Definitely being in the top 100 live

could change quite a bit, and that is why I am here this week, to get

some more points and push towards the top 100.

It is probably a maturing process, isn't it? As a tennis player and a

person that you have gone through? Because I don't think you have

always known hopes Ackley how much you want it -- I don't think you

have always known exactly how much you want it until the last year, is

that true? Yes, tennis and what it takes to get

into the top 100, definitely being a little older than playing more of

these events with the better guys around does definitely give you more

of a taste of what it takes to get up there with those guys.

I suppose hanging around with Andy Murray, as well, you're going to

learn a lot. He seems to be in your corner, as well, there seems to be

quite a lot of support from him. Yes, you do support me quite a lot

-- he does support me, and that is something that is priceless, having

him to ask a few questions. There are not many people around who have

won Wimbledon and who are supporting me. That sort of thing is great, but

ultimately it comes down to me having to win the matches, so that

is what I need to do. Get the matches won and get the points in

the bag. Well, big chance also hear today for Dan Evans to get some of

those ranking points, get some of the prize-money here, a wild card in

the Queen's Club. But there is a bit of a delay,

because the umpire is having a bit of trouble with the chair.

What is he asking for? I see...

It is like the table is not quite where he wants it. Makeshift table,

perfect! That is not going to work, he is not happy.

Day one and I am afraid we have had a malfunction on Centre Court, and

the umpire is not happy. The players are just seated at the moment and

we're waiting for play, which is not ideal is it?

No, especially Dan Evans, who I would have thought would be a bit

nervous now, about to play his first match. This is the second most

important tournament, probably, he will play this year. Emotionally, he

wants to get out and get it on. Ross Hutchins, it is his first year

here as tournament director and already a bit of a problem. I just

wonder if Chris Kermode is going up there as former tournament director

saying, this never happened when I was in charge!

The umpire does not look ready. But, finally...

The chair is going up, the table is set, and it looks like we could be

in for the start. We are ready to go, Peter, thank you very much.

Let's hope we will have no more trouble. Let's join our

commentators, John and Andrew. Thank you very much indeed.

Dan Evans is at our end. He will serve first.

It looks like he has got a bit of beef on that south since we last saw

him play. -- on that serve. That will do nicely, Evans opened

his account. A tidy start. When you were Davis Cup captain, did you pick

him, dropping? Fire him? No, I picked him a lot. He was

pretty young when he got in the team, but he deserved his spot. But

he was unlucky in some ways. He played a couple of fifth rubber

there against players that were better than him at the time and lost

a couple of them and I think it affected him for a while. It is a

tough thing to go to a Davis Cup match and play the fifth rubber and

lose. He was a very talented player, down, it is just the mental side he

seems to have improved so much in in the last three -- in the last year

or so. 33 years old, Jurgen Melzer. Next

top ten, he was number eight once upon a time.

Top ten in singles and doubles, this is a quality player from Austria.

And he won Junior Wimbledon back in 1999, as well. So he knows his way

around a grass court. He knows how difficult it is to adjust the first

few days, especially the first match with grass under your feet.

Good point. Dan Evans's favourite shot, the

backhand slice, can be an offensive weapon as well as a defensive shot.

It stays low on the grass. He was asking questions there of Melzer.

Game point now. I think Evans would like that point

back now, you probably should have unleashed one of those backhanders.

7000 people here on the main court. A massive, temporary structures all

the way around. -- massive temporary structures. Lovely.

He has good technique on the volley, Dan Evans. This is perfect here,

gets the racket out in front, nicely balanced when he hit this volley,

there is the split step. All those times that he struggled in

the Davis Cup, when you pick Tim, somebody else benefited -- picked

him. Last week, he won a massive match -- last year, he won a massive

match, the fifth match, against Russia, which laid the foundations

for that wonderful run this year to the quarterfinals, beating America

in America before losing to Italy. It takes time in the Davis Cup, it

is not always easy when you are thrown in at 19 years old. You

hopefully mature and learn from it, which is what he has done, and now

he is a very good Davis Cup player. He is coming out of the chair, he is

trying to figure it out. I think it is the wrong cushion. Mohammed has

been off for a couple of weeks. He took the French Open off and went

home to the family, because they do spend an awful lot of time on the

road, 20 weeks plus, some of these umpires. And it is a long time the,

-- a long time, because they never lose in the first round. They should

have tried it my way, and they are only there to criticise, it is not

often you come in and say how wonderful the umpire is. If he

messes up, people are quick to say it is a lousy job. Shall we praise

the umpires, this British grass court season? See how long it lasts.

It is the most difficult surface to call on, that is visual, because

there are no marks left. The umpires now are so much better than they

used to be, they know only to get involved when they need to. In the

old days, they used to overrule on a far line, ridiculous on grass courts

where they can't see. They used to cause problems. They are pretty good

now, by and large, very experienced, they know what they are doing. You

know you have made it as an umpire when you have your own position with

your own name on it. It is like Rafa with his shoes. He brings his own

pillow, he is prepared with his back support. I think they virtually

strapped him in. So he will be the umpire for the rest of the week! No

brakes. -- breaks. It is an interesting matchup. It is

a good match for Don Evans -- Dan Evans, he got the fourth round of

Wimbledon last year, so he is no mug on surface.

Beautiful. A sort of opponent that, now, you would feel at this stage of

his career, Dan Evans on grass should certainly have a good shot at

winning a match like this or certainly getting close. These are

the sort of players now, you look at him and think he has a very good

chance to win this match. He has certainly started off with a lot of

confidence. Melzer, 9 million US dollars in his

career in prize-money. ?6 million, probably add another million or two

for bits and bobs. A lot more than that, he was a big name in Austria

so he will have done very well with endorsements and things like that

there. Yes, we don't have to worry about Melzer for his next few meals.

A very well constructed point. As you pointed out about his slice

backhand, he hits the heavy first forehand and then the extreme slice

which Melzer hit up but couldn't do much with. He can't dig it up to do

much damage with it and then the big forehand takes over.

That one, though, there was not enough bite on.

Good quality match, though, already. We have only just started but you

can see right away, both players have no nerves and striking the ball

well. A little slip there from Dan Evans.

And he did very well and has such lovely hands and feel but he was

able just to control the ball and get back in the rally.

Admirable plan of action here. Very good. That first return, he just

bunted it back, punched it back but the depth was good, about a foot

from the baseline, Melzer couldn't do much with it and then the big

forehand takes over. He is mixing it up well so far, Dan Evans.

That was the body serve. First game, he just served big serves into

the corners and there, a good variation.

they make a bad error, generally speaking, they are much more solid

on the next point, they don't do it again. Good way to respond, though.

Four points in a row and Dan Evans confirms the break of serve. The

Davis Cup captain is happy as one of his close for -1 up. I was just

thinking, John, as we look at the scoreline, comfortable the Dan Evans

so well, this time last year, he won two rounds, he played Nieminen and

then lost to Del Potro, played a couple of rounds, and then was a

quarterfinalist in the Nottingham Challenger and in the summer,

quarterfinal into challenges, in the US, he qualified, he beat atomic.

That is his ranking, isn't it? -- he beat Tomic. That is his computer

points. Everything between now and September. Does that put pressure on

a player or do you just have to hit the ball? It does, in the back of

your mind. People pointed out to you, everyone knows where ranking

points come from and it is a bit more pressure -- point it out.

Looking at Dan Evans, he is so much more mature as a player and as you

said about his serve, it has got more pace. He is actually getting

aces and almost serves that cannot be returned, more pace about his

game and he seems mentally a better player. I think he is going to be a

top 100 player before long. He has certainly got the game to be there

and I think he could be top 50 with his game, as long as he gives

applying himself. He has made the jump when he realises the pro, with

the sort of work you have to do consistently... Lets hope he keeps

that up, because he is very talented.

That is just class. Talk about variation, that point had

everything. Sliced backhand is, the drive backhand, and then coming in

there at around the service box and a brilliant disguise on the drop

shot. No chance for Melzer to get in close.

UMPIRE: Wait, please. Good shout, right on it. I certainly didn't spot

it. 24 years of age, and Aston Villa fan

against Bayern Munich fan. That was a poor flight. That was in

the middle of the net. Quite a bit point as well.

A couple of inches lower and it might have been interesting. Played

quite safe here, but made him play. Slippery left-handed serve, isn't

it? Out wide. It is horrible to try and defend against. I don't know

why, but left-handers seem to have such an advantage compare to a

right-hander serving to a left-hander. Probably just feels

that way because I am right-handed. I can't believe he hit that ball on

the overhead, it was close to going out and I thought he would let that

one bounce. Then it it is this drop shot again from behind the baseline.

Melzer is coming up against someone that is giving him a lot of

different looks and he is not liking the looks that are coming at him.

That is too bad. There is no danger of injury on those ones, both feet

going at the same time, but he sets up and suddenly the feet are not

there. At this point, he was in a good position to hit a winner as

well. So depressing. baseline is cutting up a bit.

UMPIRE: Mr Melzer is challenging the call. It looks like it floated long

to the naked eye but we have big screens either end of the court.

Having a look at Dan Evans' year so far and a bit like James Ward

earlier on, who had a superb victory against Blaz Rola, the number one

Slovenian on this caught a few minutes ago, the British Davis Cup

team minus Andy Murray, if we didn't have him, we would have these two.

Qualified in Joe Hart, qualified and made the semifinal in Zagreb,

Qualified in Joe Hart, qualified and played seven matches on a tour event

-- qualified in Joe Hart. He beat Kohlschreiber amongst others and

loss to Tommy Haas. Qualified in Marseille. Just the second round in

Nottingham last week. Lost to the Australian. But he doesn't play

doubles. With a game like he has got, you would think he would play

doubles but he has made zero money from doubles. He is a talented

player and would be very good at doubles if he played consistently. I

just wonder why he wouldn't do that, with a ranking of 139 in the world,

you are not making a lot of money after you pay your expenses.

When he is playing qualifying, he has to get to the next tournament.

That is another factor to put you off. Hopefully his ranking, the way

he's playing at the moment, he won't have to worry about qualifying

anymore. It not that far away. That one was, to put it mildly, a

difficult shot he tried there. thing here, he is just asking the

question of Dan. He is holding serve and then he is going to ask Dan

Evans whether he can serve out or not. The moment of truth in this

set. Tension between the players just

ratchets up a little bit. The players will certainly feel it,

whether the crowd do or not. This is certainly a moment in this match. If

he can take this set away, he will be in great shape.

That one ended up at the tube station.

Danger. He needs a first serves. It was a good second serve, but Melzer

was so solid on the return and took charge of the rally early on. Evans

always on the back foot. That is matchplay right there from

Evans. Huge second serve, that was. We haven't got the speed gun at the

moment. Evans selecting the newest ball,

probably. That is a fabulous service game. Dan

Evans, first set to him. 6-3 with that break of serve. Quality. Not

trying to put a damper on anything, but you think he is a top 100 player

in waiting, top 50. I have seen him play Davis Cup tennis up close, he

can really play with quality. What is the difference between 100 player

in waiting, top 50. I have seen him play Davis Cup tennis up close, he

can really play with quality. What is the difference between the top

hundred and that? What has he got to do and how many wins would you say

it is? In terms of wins, obviously Grand Slams is where you accumulate

the big points. If he can play well in Wimbledon, he has a grass court

season coming up where you can make a big jump, but it is the

consistency. That said there was as good as it gets from Dan Evans. --

that set. He came on court and took charge against the vastly more

experienced player. All of a sudden, the big first serves, the second

serves... The problem sometimes with Dan is he doesn't keep that level up

and that is the difference, the good players keep that level up. He has

got to consistently play like this. Does he do the work of the Court Two

get him there? He is now, but again, it is being consistent. You can't do

it occasionally. It is a. You see Andy Murray, these training camps

they go to, it is 52 weeks of the year -- it is a business. Sometimes

Dan would get it together for a few odd weeks and then go off and enjoy

himself. You have to have brakes now and again but this is a business and

you have to treat it like that and I think he can be a top 50 player in

the world. -- you have to have breaks. Some of the corporate

hospitality here is second to none at the Queen's Club and people are

just drifting in at around 3pm. That is when a good lunch comes to a

close. Now, against someone like Melzer,

you win the first set but you can't relax for one second because you

know Melzer is going to come at you. He is not going to give you

anything easily, that is for sure. Look at that. Beautiful. Literally,

you can't get it any closer to the net than that. Little bit back spin

just brings it back in. -- of back spin.

That is three serve and volleys in a row, you don't see it very often

from Melzer. You don't see it very often from anybody, to be honest,

these days. Fine work. Five times he has been

victorious on the ATP Tour. The last of those was the hard courts, in

North America, leading up to the U.S. Open last year. So he is a

winner quite recently, and an old one to, he's 33 now, he turned that

last month. Eight career finals as well, so 13 times he has been in an

ATP final. An experienced man. He is going to stick around in this, you

would imagine. That is worthy of booing. Eight sets

of hands were up on that one. We saw the technique on his forehand

volley in the first set, now we are seeing the backhand volley. This is

getting the ball out in front. Look how far in front he was, but

perfectly balanced. Just punched that ball away. Beautifully done.

serve, Jurgen Melzer. He has improved his second serve power too.

He is crunching the seconds and they are about an inch from the line.

The first day of wings club. We have got this and Eastbourne next week

and then the Championships at Wimbledon -- Queen's Club. You look

very well. It has gone quickly this year with Andy Murray as Wimbledon

champion. The weather is better today. I do not think we had a day

like this last year. It was dreadful. The amount of rain delays

were amazing. The temperature, it was about 15 degrees less. Perfect

at the moment. Andy Murray in action on Wednesday. We are lucky to have

him. We certainly are. He is a class player. With the French Open, you

are left with that last image. He got dumped by the greatest

clay-court player of all-time. We have to not forget he got to the

semifinals. Considering where he was with his injury and stuff he played

tremendous matches. He looked tired in the semis. Unfortunately, coming

up against Nadal who was on a different planet, that is obvious.

Anybody who has ever had surgery knows it is not just a physical

thing, mentally to come back from surgery takes a little bit of

something. He certainly appears to be back in terms of his appetite for

victory. No question. Another good sir. At the moment,

Melzer is not sure where the ball is going -- another good serve. He is

hitting wide, down the middle. He is not getting any rhythm. He is trying

to changes position to put a different look in his mind.

It is good, professional staff from Melzer. -- stuff. Got to do

something. Big serves from Dan Evans.

Two excellent returns of serves from Melzer on the forehand. Forcing

Evans into errors. What is this about?

It is going to be a long British season, Madame! She is getting

worked up on behalf of Dan Evans already.

Do you think it could have been that Evans was having a word with the

umpire about Melzer leaping around on his first serve? It did not feel

that way. Here's leaping around. All over the place. He has opened up his

rack -- his racket. He is like a peacock saying, serve at me. Pulled

the double fault out. This is legitimate gamesmanship, that is

what this is. I think he is having a moan. Melzer

saying, come on, lad. This is good! Good stuff.

He has certainly not served as well. He has lost his first serve

rhythm. That is going to irritate. It is

going to be age Allan Johnston is. -- be a challenge upstairs. Melzer,

by getting himself animated, by getting Evans to take his eye off

the ball, I think he has got the break. Yes, he has. It is well

played. Are you all right with that? Absolutely.

It would not be OK if he was doing it to you! Of course not.

When it comes to body banter and throwing a bit of cheeky stuff

around, I think Dan would be able to hold his own.

Now Evans knocks the ball over there knowing that the poor girl will not

be able to pick it up. Makes Melzer weight. Never say you have got to

play your game. You have got to play your opponent. That is what they are

doing here. Got to be kidding! I don't know if

we will see many misses like that in the World Cup! That was an open

goal. That is unbelievable that he could miss by that much as well.

Open court. A big point as well. Evans has got to be careful. He is

getting pushed too far behind the baseline. The passing shots are not

easy to hit a winner in that position.

He is back in France again, Dan Evans, shouting! He has not adjusted

his time clock. Held his ground and planted the foot and played the open

stance back and. There is no time on a grass court. -- backhand. It shows

a player and double on the surface. -- comfortable. He is still having a

go at the umpire about the way Melzer is moving between the service

motion. But he has got his own back on him there. As you quite rightly

said. He time wasted a bit, legitimately again, but again that

is sort of a bit of growing up from Dan Evans. Coming up against an

established player and he is not afraid to impose himself. It is good

to have a bit of fire on the court like this. You are slightly older

than me. Who was your generation... ? Nastase. Jimmy Connors. I did not

have many problems with him because he thrashed me a -- every time! He

knew how to master the. Umpires, linesmen, the crowd, whatever it

took to win, he would do it. He sort of hit the kicker there and

slowed it down. He has been belting the seconds. He took a bit of a soft

and clipped the top of the net. -- a bit of pace off.

Such good racket head control. Melzer had him completely

off-balance. He caught it late. He knew what he was doing with that

ball and faded it out wide. Look how deep he got Melzer in. Impossible

position. Followed it in as well. Good instincts. Great game.

This is a real racket centre, this Queen's Club. They play real tennis

and squash as well. They play racket long which is a mixture of four

sports. That was great from Evans. Played a lot of squash as a junior,

Dan. You can see it in his game. At 40-0, it might not be worth

wasting a challenge on. UMPIRE: Mr Melzer challenging the

call. He has lost his voice! Such a rich

voice, but we are missing it. Interesting first-round match here

at Queen's Club in West London. Day one of the main event. There was a

Challenger last week in Nottingham that Marcos Baghdatis won. He is

here. He is going to come in flying. A lot of matches already. He is

playing Stanislas Wawrinka. That will be a tough match for Stan

Wawrinka. Who do you expect to win? Well, presuming Marcos Baghdatis

wins the first round, I would go with him. But it could be nasty. Not

an easy match. The Australian Open champion, Stanislas Wawrinka. Myrdal

injured his back in that. -- Nadal injured his back in that. It looked

like his back was troubling him a little bit in the full set of the

win over Djokovic. Not enough to hold him back. Unbelievable sporting

achievement. win over Djokovic. Not enough to

hold him back. Unbelievable I suppose winning eight French Opens.

Nine! It is nonsense. It will never be beaten. It is impossible. Bjorn

Borg won six with no losses. He will probably win another couple. I would

equate that to somebody winning the football World Cup three times in a

row. It has 135mph on the scoreboard at

the end there. We are just recalibrating that. It was around

about 120. We will figure it out. Some of the players that play at the

Albert Hall in the senior invitation events would like that speed on the

courts they are playing at! Generous.

I would have expected Melzer to make that folly. No, I don't mechanise

any of them! Average grass court players.

So much tennis on the TV now. It is hard to remember what it was like

when there was not much telly and McEnroe was scheduled. That was an

appointment to view, it really was. Should have made that. Too many

options. Could have lobbed, gone crosscourt. He picked the hardest,

to go off backhand. We are going to have the poor umpire

replaced. His voice has gone. He has had a lovely time with his family in

Marbella for a couple of weeks, but he is really struggling to get the

words out. That is not normally the case. This is from Jamie. On

Twitter. Evans seems quite casual on court. Do you agree and is it good

or bad? You can get in touch with us on Twitter. That is just the way he

is. He has always been that way. It is fine. Every player has different

mannerisms. You can act a certain way on court to please others which

is not honest to yourself. You have to be who you are on the court. As

long as it does not take on negative connotations where you are shaking

your head and all of that stuff. He does not do that. Only

occasionally. I think he is casual. The body works better if you are

relaxed and casual. It is a boiling hot day here at Queen's Club. The

hottest day of the year so far. Temperatures down there must be 27,

20 8 degrees. Nearly air less. -- 27, 28 degrees.

A controlled swipe from Melzer. He made sure the lines person was not

there when he whacked it. You have to be careful.

He got lucky! Just a little over a minute for that game. That is

comfortable, isn't it? Getting into the heart of the match

here after an hour of play. His first round matches at Queen's

Club often dominated by errors. But this is a match between two players

with great know-how on this surface. Day one that Queen's Club. Quality.

Good move around there from Evans. He gambled. It is always dicey to

move around on the second serve from a lefty because it is serving into

your body. He got in nice and quick. He whacked the forehand. When you

have a backhand like he has... Exactly. He can get more power on

it. He knew exactly what he would do and he gambled and it was exactly

the right tactic. That was a good serve. De go to serve for a lefty.

If you try to cover it, they slip the serve down the middle. -- the go

to serve. Right on that ball too. Here is

playing a good match. Tried to come over and missed it.

Good hold, Melzer. He was under pressure at 15-30. Did the right

things. This is what you expect from him. Just outside the top 50 now.

Started the year at number 60 and he did not start until Monte Carlo. He

beat Marin Cilic and Dennis Isner in Rome. A couple of rounds of

Dusseldorf. This is a quality player and a man with a doubles record to

be proud of as well. He won the doubles at troubled and in 2010. The

Mixed Doubles champion at Wimbledon in 2011. -- the doubles at

Wimbledon. He married his doubles partner a year later. That was a

good week! Did you ever think about playing with any ex-wives at all or

anything like that it up you could have picked worse partners. Did you

play mixed? We played a few matches. Not particularly well, I might add.

You managed to win a couple of Mixed Doubles without her? Yeah.

serve, Melzer. He did think about stopping. I wonder if it was in or

out. It caught the back of the line, that second serve, so actually it

was a brilliant second serve. He would like to take that point

back because that was not a great serve from Melzer. He just sort of

stabbed it back, he could have really hit that one.

Very good half leave there from Melzer, but Evans just drilled the

ball. Just got to keep that first serve the way it has been going. It

is a mini-break now, still a long way to go in this tie-breaker.

Live by the sword, die by the sword. You have just got to go for it. He

is whacking that thing. It has kept Melzer from hurting him at all on

his second serve, his statistics have been very good in that area.

That was just buy one or two inches, it can happen. He has got to keep

faith with it. Shame. This is when you have got to

just calm it. No time now for that. That is bad news, two doubles in a

row. They are a bit nervy, aren't they?

Yes, that was a nice gift. He had the chance to come on in,

early ball in the rally, after a pretty decent second serve. But as

it is, Melzer took the net position and on a grass court, that is still

the place to be. Just couldn't find the first serve,

the last few points. I presume here that if Melzer does his serve out

wide... Well closed, well played from a mini-break down. In that

tie-break, Melzer wins you don't want to be harsh, you know it's not

easy, but it's the difference between being 40, 50, 60 in the

world, and what Dan Evans is, which is a player full of highlights,

talent and work most of the time. The difference is so tiny. It is so

tiny and you look at how well he has served in the match but

unfortunately, when it counted, he missed the first -- the four first

serves in a row. That was the difference in that tie-breaker when

it really came down to it. Then he tried a top-spin lob on a huge

point. There is a little dip there and it is enough for an experienced

player to take command. If he were to lose this match, and he is by no

means out of this, he will look back at it. That is what they have to

analyse. You cannot do those sorts of things at crucial stages in the

match, not if you are going to take that next level up in the game.

Martin Stickley has e-mailed us - seeing the gamesmanship has got me

thinking, has there ever been a big. Between players? Oh, yes, there are

too many paragraphs to go into. Not so many these days. Plenty in the

locker room. I saw a couple of classics in the old days, sometimes

when players knew it was going to happen because we knew there was a

navigation. On the match point everybody ran into the locker room

and pretended we were getting ready for the next match that we didn't

even have, and they got this player up against a wall and forgot he had

a huge Italian bodyguard. That was the end of that but there were many

of those occasions. There is a story about Bjorn Borg putting Ivan Lendl

up against the wall. You think he was gentle and lovely all the

time... The is! But I suppose it's the quiet ones, isn't it, John?

Difficult moments now, trying to get over the disappointment. Dan Evans,

British number two behind Andy Murray. Had a mini-break in the

second set tie-breaker, having won the first. The game fell away a

little bit. Look at that, Tony Roach in the

white cap with Lleyton Hewitt. Lleyton Hewitt just loves this game,

wants to play, loves the competition, refuses to accept that

he hasn't got more to offer in the game. There was a little bit of talk

around on Twitter about him coaching Andy Murray. That struck me as an

interesting one. Right in the corner. We are seeing

an exhibition of good, solid, professional matchplay here. It

doesn't take a lot, when you are playing against someone who is that

experienced, if you have a slight dip that is all it takes. That is

what happened with Melzer, that tie-breaker, that slight glimmer of

hope, the two double faults from Dan Evans got him ahead and after that

he jumped on him. In that game, very aggressive with the returns, big

forehand is taking over. Dan Evans has got to get his mind back. His

game has dropped a little bit. Outstanding stretch from Evans. I

thought he was out of this point. The slice just setting up a little

bit, and it looks like he was gone on that forehand. Melzer did slip,

but still, it was a fabulous recovery.

Melzer will feel hard done by Bob Dan Evans is right back in it. To

break back shows decent composure. Yes, a lot of credit therefore Dan

Evans. -- there for Dan Evans. He could have easily lost some

confidence after the tie-break but he bounced back and that was a well

earned game. He has got to get his service back a little bit, it

dropped off in that tie-breaker and the last game. He could do with a

few body serves as well. He is not doing that as much as he was in the

first part of the match. Well done! He has had two overheads

in this match, both about one foot from the baseline and he has dealt

with them both admirably. Pretty close to the baseline, that is a

good overhead. Two first serves in a row as well, that's nice.

That is an excellent two games. An excellent visit to that end of the

court. Because when he turned up there, he was 1-0 down and a break.

You have got to fight that feeling of satisfaction and keep the hunger,

but I thought that was a very positive reaction to adversity. He

is just getting this taping. It looks like talcum powder, maybe it

is just pulling up a little bit. I assume that is just too help the

tendon, John? What do you know about kinesio taping? Not much. Does he

visit Andy Murray? I know Carl Edmund has spent time with Andy

Murray in Miami around Christmas, New Year time. I think there will be

a big queue for that. If you can train with Andy Murray for a few

weeks in those conditions with his work ethic, you can only come out a

better player. If he can somehow put himself to the front of that queue,

it can do a lot for your game, that's for sure. He doesn't like it

when people are late. It is the standards and value people ring. It

is business, you are trained to play a certain amount of hours, rest

periods, physical therapy. All of the input is fantastic, and you come

out of their just knowing so much more about the game. --, out of

there. I would like to see Evans on the

backhand side coming over the ball a little bit. He doesn't want to

become too reliant on slicing every ball. I think if he could flatten

out the ball, he has a great backhand drive when he goes for it.

I thought he had this folly, but the dip was just enough to beat him. He

should have had that one. He snatched a little bit. The slight

opening here for Evans. That is a poor volley. This is the

height that you'd like a volley, right here. When you are in your

zone, you shouldn't miss that one all day long. A big point too.

Pretty smart hold. Melzer was not known for a very big serve, and that

was a good base, but the ones before that were good serves, I think he

got four in a row but it was the variation and accuracy. It doesn't

have to be a big serve if it is in the corner, and that is what he did

there. as a wildcard in 2008, quickly

skinny slight teenager, Dan Evans. But there is some meet.

That is the trouble again. So far behind the baseline. You have to hit

an outright winner otherwise you are dead on the next shot.

The 13th ace from Dan Evans. There was some question about whether if

Scotland goes independent, would Andy Murray play for Scotland? And

therefore, what would the Davis Cup team do? England would be James Ward

and Dan Evans. What would they do in terms of... Where would you place

the two teams Quetta not Britain are in the world group. They were

quarterfinalists this year. -- where would you place the two teams? They

cannot allow an extra space for Scotland and England. How would they

do that? I don't know. But Scotland have a handy team. Leon Smith, the

captain there. Edinburgh man. Colin Fleming in the doubles with Andy.

That is all you need! That is a world group team right there. Sure

is. England could have Jonny Marray, Ross Hutchins. Dan Evans and

James Ward. Not bad. Home internationals would be good.

He needs to take advantage of the second serves, Melzer. He is not

getting many of them at the moment. Nice bonus.

Two big chances there. Chance on the return and only passing shot. Club

professional here at Queen's Club, Lee Childs. Good Somerset man.

UMPIRE: Mr Evans challenging the call.

Lee Childs can hit the ball hard. He played Nadal when he was 17.

Good know-how. Just to finish that point on the home internationals,

independence for Scotland, what would happen to the tennis teams,

Wales and Northern Ireland, not sure who they will come up with. Where

are they going to put all of these teams? Good luck to them figuring

all of that out. We will cross that bridge when we get to it.

I suppose they would have to do it on ranking.

I just think that serve is not used enough, that body serve.

This is certainly a moment in this match. 3-3, 30-30.

Looks wide. UMPIRE: Mr Melzer challenging the

call. The ball is called in. Did it catch

a bit? They will be looking at these screens. It did.

APPLAUSE Melzer, that is the death stare. He

is very, very cross with our Dan. What is the cross about? Here's just

demonstrating his passion to win. Do you think it is easy playing Melzer

in Austria? Here's just cross about missing the return and perhaps an

imagined disrespect. Here's just shouting to get himself going. I

thought that was good reaction from Evans. I am not having a go at him,

but I'm sure that is what Melzer is thinking. When you are a more

experienced player, you give a look. But Dan did not even look at him. It

is no good if the other person is not seeing it. That was all...

Looked nice, camera wise. But it did not do too much. A wasted death

stare! You can only summon up that sort of looked a couple of times

over the course of the match. You will exhaust yourself. They have

been at it for much of this match which is now an hour and three

quarters old. Thoroughly entertaining. Lleyton Hewitt still

to come. Good first day's play. Thought he might just smack one at

him again and see if he gets another of those stares.

If Melzer misses his first serve, Evans might try to get under his

skin here a bit. Good play. Just that chip return, got to be a

foot lower than that. Tough to fit that shot. Your timing has got to be

precise. -- tough to hit. The East stand one. North stand now.

Good catch. That is not the shot. Not good shot

selection from that distance on the court. Or the drop shot too. Badly

played point. Be careful now. This must end of the set and match. You

cannot mess around. What a recovery. 15 aces from Dan Evans. That is

tremendous serving. I would be surprised if he has ever served that

many in a match. I might be wrong, but I doubt it.

He has not passed very well on his backhand side. He has missed a lot

of those opportunities. It is normally a really good part of his

game. Memories of Jimmy Connors. He really

got through that. Flat as a pancake. Hit the grass and shot through.

Suddenly, it is a break point at 4-4. Decider.

He has just hit the best backhand of the whole match. That was a slice

shove. Five feet macro from the baseline. Look at that shot. -- 5ft

from the baseline. That of chest beating from Melzer

and no reward. He played a very fine break point. He will be disappointed

if he loses this game. That is a tremendous escape from Dan

Evans. He really hit maybe a one in ten backhand. Generous. One in 20?

He was gone at that point. That could have saved him the whole

match. That was basically match point against him. Tremendous

effort. Did well to hang in on that game. If he can get through it, this

match will be eight Amanda 's boost. Coming through a match like

this against an experienced player who has thrown everything at him...

-- this match will be a tremendous boost. These results are on a 12

month basis. These computer points will drop off next Monday from last

year. It will be replaced by this year. That is right. Jarko Nieminen

and others. This will not be on his mind now. He is just playing the

match. Tremendous. You get to see ropey stuff on day one. People are

nervous about movement of them. But they have been diving around here.

The quality has been excellent from the first point.

He has not really unleashed this shot too many times. That one was

beautifully struck. Had his man beat! What a pity.

Melzer slipped. Anything in the court and it would have been a

winner. Just drifted wide. Ninth ace for Melzer. 16 for Dan

Evans. Double figures brings home the game

and parity in the decider. -- brings him.

James Ward, the British number three, already a winner on this

court today. Blaz Rola was his victim. Dan Evans is 5-5 against

Melzer of Austria. The winner of this match plays big

Kevin Anderson, the South African, number seven seed. Demanding on a

grass court, that one. Demanding on any surface! Kevin

Anderson is a world-class player now. Always nasty to play against.

This court has already been nicely scarred from the play and the

sliding. This is mostly done. Right foot down. -- nicely done. Fluidity

of movement has been a feature of his game today.

UMPIRE: Mr Evans is challenging the call.

The umpire was very quick to put his finger up and say he thought the

ball is out and he is on it. His voice might not be 100%, but his

eyes are. UMPIRE: Mr Evans has one challenge

remaining. He has found some useful backhand returns, Melzer.

The grand stroke from Evans on the forehand. -- the ground stroke. If

you are not actually with it, he punishes you on the next ball. He

hit the forehand OK, Dan Evans, but it was not in the right place. Comes

belting back and he is in trouble. That is what has got him out of a

troubled though, his first serve, aces. -- a lot of trouble.

It is a six minute game and Dan Evans gets out of it. Did not face a

break point in that game but it felt dangerous. He had 40-15 and Melzer

came back and was threatening. It is a fine holdall serve. He will go to

the tie-break. He needs to pick up a point or two. You have got to try

and get into the game to start with on a grass court. That is absolutely

right. One or two grimaces from Dan Evans around the strapping on his

left knee. Not being attended to. No time for that. One more game and a

tie-break, whatever happens. It has been an impressive performance

because with 7000 people here and home fans and TV watching as well,

it is a big match for Dan Evans. He loves playing on grass courts. It

was impressive also in the second set tie-break when he served the two

doubles and lost the set and lost the first game of the third. It was

worrying. You thought he might go away easily. But he did not. He

broke right back. He has held serve the whole way through. Melzer has

been returning well too. Good effort.

APPLAUSE That is a welcome structured point.

-- welcome structured. Took charge on the return of serve. Then the

drop shot. Moved up in the right position. Volleys into the open

court. Had more time on that one. He was

almost there too soon. Change of pace from Melzer. But of a bluff

serve and he got away with it. Evans would have taken this

position, 30-30, at the start of this game.

He did well to get himself back into this rally. He was in trouble on a

few occasions. He had a go at the highest point of the net, and didn't

make it. That's going in! That could bring

down rain, that lob! The approach to Heathrow is about 12 miles to the

left. That one would have worried them temporarily. So it is a

tie-break to see who goes through to play Kevin Anderson in the second

round. He stood up to that second serve,

didn't he? Just unable to find the right height.

Oh, yes, this time. Threading the needle, Dan Evans with a mini-break.

That was fine anticipation. The execution of the drop volley was not

great, but Evans was on it. He had the wherewithal to find the right

shot. That is talent. He did well to manoeuvre his feet,

get out of the way of the ball. The ball came at him quickly.

How different this from the second set breaker where Dan Evans got his

nose in front and double-faulted twice. This time two good points on

his own serve, in control. He has wrapped that around the

frame. Dan Evans really is closing in on this victory against a much

higher ranked man. Melzer has not been able to get a first serve, and

looked the edgier one. That is very well handled.

Tremendous half-volley, wasn't it? Unbelievable.

It has been a grand day of day one at the Queen's Club. Dan Evans

disposes of Jurgen Melzer, a proven performer at the highest level. What

a start here. Another wildcard decision to be applauded. What a

classy performance that was, what a fabulous first round match as well.

That really was an outstanding effort, from blowing that second set

in the tie-breaker, he got tight on those two double faults in a row.