No Englishman in Wimbledon draw for first time since inception in 1877

LONDON - For the first time since Wimbledon began in 1877 there will be no Englishman in the singles draw.

The only British males in the draw are fourth-seeded Andy Murray and wild card entry Jamie Baker - who are technically both from Scotland.

Wimbledon and the LTA were embarrassed as Londoner James Ward, 23, was told that despite ousting two former Wimbledon semi-finalists - German Schuettler and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in successive rounds of the Aegon Eastbourne Championships - he would not get a place in the main draw.

The British No. 5 would automatically have gained a wild card into the main draw had he been ranked better than 250, The Sun reports.

But he slipped from 189 to 345 because of glandular fever, which sidelined him for almost six months.

“I am more than a little bit disappointed if I am honest as I thought my situation would have been taken into consideration. I have consistently been in the top 250 for the last 18 months until I dropped off points in the two weeks before wild cards were issued. It is only because I was ill for six months that my ranking dropped,” Ward said.

“It is such a shame there is no Englishman in the draw for the first time. I hadn’t realised that. I would have loved to have been there. But there is nothing more that I can do. It looks like it is game over,” he added. (ANI)