WIMBLEDON, England—Mardy Fish hung on to beat 173rd-ranked British wild card James Ward 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3 over more than 4 hours to reach the third round at Wimbledon, the American's first tournament since a medical procedure on his heart.

The 10th-seeded Fish could have ended things much earlier, holding a match point at 5-3 in the fourth set. But Ward saved that with a cross-court forehand passing winner. Fish then served for the match, but made a series of errors, including pushing a backhand wide to get broken.

More mistakes from Fish followed in the tiebreaker, including a double-fault to drop that set.

In the fifth, though, Fish broke to 5-3 after several unforced errors by Ward, then capped the match with a 131-mph service winner.