James Ward tells all...

James Ward is ranked inside Britain’s top five players and has enjoyed a fantastic start to 2009, improving his world ranking to a career high No.224 after winning his first Challenger title on clay courts in Sarasota.

You recently became the first Brit for quite some time to win a Challenger title on clay. Do you feel like that was a breakthrough result?

Yeah, definitely. I knew I was playing well for two weeks before that when I was beaten by a couple of good players – I lost to Mariano Puerta in Pereira and John Isner in Savannah and they were tight matches. Then it all came together in Sarasota. I beat some decent players in qualies and went on a run in the main draw. So I’m happy with that and it’s a good time to be playing well just before Wimbledon.

Have you been making an extra effort to work on your clay court game?

Not really. I trained on clay in Spain for a while so I’m used to playing on it but it’s not like I’ve been concentrating more on that aspect of my game than any other. I’m a bit of an old rounder – with my style of game I can play on all surfaces so I wasn’t too surprised that I did well on the clay.

Looking ahead to the summer, is the grass court season something which you’re looking forward to? Do you feel added pressure during that period?

I’m looking forward to it but I don’t really feel added pressure. Everyone makes a big deal out of the grass court season but they forget about the rest of the year which is important as well. Obviously it’s nice to be at home when you’ve been travelling for the other 10 months. Last year I did well at Queen’s so I’m looking forward to that again and obviously Wimbledon but also just spending a bit of time at home.

You came into the public eye at Queen’s last year, qualifying and then almost beating Marat Safin in the first round. How was that experience for you?

Oh it was great. I played a couple of good matches to reach the main draw and then I got to play against Safin on Centre Court. It was the last match of the day on there, a TV match, it was big experience for me. I thought I dealt with it well. I actually played very well and on another day maybe I would have won.

Do you have any specific goals for the summer and beyond?

Hopefully I’ll have a good week again at Queen’s and then do well at Wimbledon – those are the two big ones for me. After that, I’m probably going to move back and play a  bit on clay. With rankings, I’m about 220 at the moment so first of all I need to crack 200, then 180, 150 and so on.

How was your first experience of being involved in Davis Cup tennis?

I was very disappointed not to make the team but it was good to be involved in the play-offs and the squad. I think that experience will stand me in good stead for the next tie but it was a big disappointment for me at the time.

• View James's player profile

* Published in May 2009