"He is doing the yards, he's doing the work that's needed there, but what we want to see from him is a little more consistency and that comes with match wins"
Friday 12 October 2018 07:51, UK
Greg Rusedski feels the only thing lacking in Kyle Edmund's game is consistency as the British No 1 edges ever-closer to an improbable spot at the ATP Finals in London.
Edmund became only the sixth British man to reach the last four at a Grand Slam in the Open era at the Australian Open. He then came agonisingly close to landing his first career ATP title but lost to Spain's Pablo Andujar in the final of Marrakech.
The 23-year-old reached the quarter-finals in Estoril, Madrid, Eastbourne and Winston-Salem before falling at the semi-final stage in the China Open last week.
His rise has seen him climb from 50 to a career-high 14 in the world rankings this year, and now Edmund is on another surge at the Shanghai Masters.
"To be fourteen in the world is exceptional at his age," Rusedski told Sky Sports, while Annabel Croft added: "Players come to the attention here in Britain if they do well at Wimbledon. If he does well there, then that will suddenly bring him to more attention."
The consistency of work is there, but the next step us is to make sure he gets to quarters, semis, finals and winning.
Rusedski eluded to Edmund's four-set loss to Novak Djokovic in the last 32 of Wimbledon this summer as an example of how his game has improved.
"I think Edmund's game has improved out of sight in the past year," he said. "I think his coach Fredrik Rosengren, has done a fantastic job along with the rest of the team Mark Hilton and Prangers (his physio/trainer Ian Prangley).
"He is doing the yards, he's doing the work that's needed there, but what we want to see from him is a little more consistency and that comes with match wins.
"We've been blessed with this big four or big five being so consistent week in, week out. The consistency of work is there, but the next step us is to make sure he gets to quarters, semis, finals and winning. If he can keep the mentality and belief then I think he has an opportunity to do that. The start of next year is going to be huge for him."
Qualification for the elite season-ending event at London's O2 remains an outside prospect for Edmund, with 1,945 points. However, he still has to make 1,600 points up on the man currently in the last of the top eight spots, Austria's Dominic Thiem.
The likes of John Isner, Kei Nishikori and Fabio Fognini are sandwiched in between Thiem and Edmund, but Rusedski feels that in order for the British No 1 to qualify for London then he will have to win a Masters 1000 event.
Rusedski said: "That's a real big ask at this stage." He then added: "It's quite exciting times for men's tennis if you think about it. For Britain, we have Kyle Edmund. We have the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, and you also have Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece. You have all these next generation guys trying to break through and come through the top of men's tennis."
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