In this episode of Beyond Tennis, Johnny sits down with British tennis legend and 2015 Davis Cup champion James Ward to trace his career from picking up a racket at 9/10 in North London to training at Juan Carlos Ferrero’s academy in Spain, grinding through Futures and Challengers, and eventually cracking the ATP top 100 around age 28/29. Ward shares what the lonely lower-level tour is really like, why Davis Cup team environments brought out his best tennis, and relives his biggest moments—beating Sam Querrey away in the USA and coming back from two sets down to beat John Isner 15–13 in the fifth in Glasgow. He also discusses his Ted Baker match shirts, a Queen’s Club semifinal run, knee surgery, COVID’s impact on his late career, and his post-retirement coaching work abroad, plus plenty of Arsenal talk and quickfire Q&A.

00:00 Lonely Tour Grind
00:48 Meet James Ward
01:17 Arsenal Nerves
02:02 Picking Up Tennis Late
03:03 Training Routine And Costs
05:13 Spain Academy Leap
08:20 First ATP Points Grind
13:19 Back To London NTC
15:31 Breaking Top 100
17:00 Davis Cup Rise
20:06 USA Tie Upset Win
24:18 Glasgow Isner Epic
26:22 Iconic Match Shirts
27:21 Queens Club Breakthrough
28:53 Ranking Rise and ATP Qualies
29:12 Retirement Decision and COVID
30:53 Coaching Abroad and LTA Gap
33:22 Arsenal Talk and Title Pressure
35:43 Dream Arsenal Five-a-Side
37:57 Run-In Predictions and Transfers
42:13 Match Tie Break QandA
49:22 Coaching Rule Debate
51:03 Biopic Casting and Farewell