Kyle Edmund has reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final but just how far can he go in Melbourne?
Tuesday 23 January 2018 10:56, UK
Kyle Edmund has reached the quarter-final of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.......
The British No 2 is shouldering British hopes at the year's opening Grand Slam in the absence of the injured Andy Murray and relishing the task.
After an impressive first-round victory over 11th seed Kevin Anderson he brushed aside Denis Istomin and then battled past Nikoloz Basilashvili over five sets in 40-degree heat before he reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final with a four-set victory over Andreas Seppi.
Edmund, currently the world No 49, has benefited from the early exits of top-20 seeds Jack Sock and Lucas Pouille from his section of the men's draw to increase his chances of staying in contention.
Sky Sports takes a look at how the 23-year-old reached this stage of the competition and his chances of advancing to the second week of the Australian Open for the first time.
Coming up against big-serving South African Anderson in the first round, Edmund was forced to twice come from going behind a set to take his opening match of the tournament to a decisive fifth. Despite trailing 2-0 at the beginning of the last set, Edmund earned a break back immediately as he eventually came out on top.
Two days later, he required just 89 minutes to ease past Istomin and set up his third-round clash against Basilashvili, which took place in sweltering conditions in Melbourne.
Having taken the first set, the Yorkshireman suffered a mid-game blip losing the next two sets - despite having broken his opponent early in the second. Edmund rallied and after winning the fourth set 6-0, he clinched the victory as he broke Basilashvili with the Georgian serving to stay in the game.
Edmund came into the meeting with Seppi ranked 27 places above his more experienced Italian opponent, who stunned Roger Federer in Melbourne in 2015, and initially struggled to get to grips with the patient 33-year-old from the back of the court.
However, after losing the first set on a tiebreak and falling a break behind he mounted a stirring fightback, thanks to some aggressive baseline tennis and precise serving, to win in four sets and underline his growing self-belief on the major stage.
Edmund's run to the last eight is a major boost for British tennis and the manner of his victories at Melbourne Park, which have seen the 23-year-old forced to dig deep and show extreme resolve, provide a huge confidence boost ahead of the remainder of his 2018 campaign.
The challenge across the net increases in difficulty and he will be hard pushed to extend his run further with world No 3 Grigor Dimitrov lying next in wait.
Edmund has previously faced Dimitrov twice and lost both times to the Bulgarian, including the pair's meeting at the Brisbane International earlier this month where the world No 49 took last year's Australian Open semi-finalist to three competitive sets.
Will Edmund, who is set to rise to at least world No 35, extend his stay with a further unexpected success against the ATP Finals champion?
In either victory or defeat, the British public can be safe in the knowledge there is reason for optimism beyond three-time Grand Slam champion Murray.
