Andy Murray left pondering Wimbledon hopes after defeat to Kyle Edmund

Edmund won 6-4, 6-4 to record his first victory over the 31-year-old Scot at the third attempt

Kyle Edmund will forever be grateful for the help that Andy Murray has given him during his rise up the world rankings, but the world No 18 showed no mercy to his fellow Briton here at the Nature Valley International.

With Murray playing perhaps the most disappointing match so far of his comeback following hip surgery, Edmund won 6-4, 6-4 to record his first victory over the 31-year-old Scot at the third attempt. It was the first time Murray had lost to another British player since Tim Henman recorded his only victory over the Scot 12 years ago.

While Murray could take plenty of positives from both his narrow defeat to Nick Kyrgios in his first match at Queen’s Club last week and his victory over Stan Wawrinka in the first round here two days ago, this was a reminder of the work ahead for the former world No 1 if he is to recapture his former glories.

He now has to assess whether his body is up to playing best-of-five-set matches at Wimbledon, which begins on Monday. He will not be rushing into any decision and does not plan to play any exhibition matches in the next few days.

“I’ll see how I pull up again tomorrow, but I don't really anticipate any issues from today's match,” Murray said afterwards. “It's just whether I feel like I'm able to do myself justice.

“Two weeks ago I practised with Kyle and I didn't win a game. That was the first set or points that I had played in six months basically, since I was trying to get ready for the Aussie Open.

“I have made decent improvements the last couple of weeks and obviously have been somewhat competitive in the matches that I have played, but I don't just want to go out there to just play. I want to be able to compete properly. And if I don't feel like I can do that, then I won't play. If I do and physically I feel ready and mentally I'm in the right place, then I'll go for it.”

He added: “There's no danger about me injuring my hip more than there would be at any other stage.”

Edmund, who has made huge progress in the last year, having broken into the world’s top 20 and reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open in January, said: “It was a bit of a tough match mentally playing Andy. To beat a guy like Andy who I’ve looked up to so much - he’s looked after me and been really good to me - is a bit of a weird feeling. I was a little bit nervous towards the end but it was good for me to come through.”

Murray sometimes struggled to cope with the sheer power of Edmund’s serves and thumping forehands. If there were times when the Scot did not appear to be moving quite as freely as he had in his first two comeback matches, that probably had everything to do with the weight of his opponent’s shots.

Murray was out of sorts (AFP/Getty Images)

After another beautiful day on the Sussex coast, the temperature was still 25C when the match started at 5.15pm. However, the players had to cope with a tricky breeze which stiffened in the latter stages.

Murray knows as well as anyone how holding serve is crucial in grass-court tennis. Being broken in the opening game was not the start he wanted. The Scot, who did not serve with his customary power, began with a double fault and was broken when he shanked a forehand.

The Scot had his chances to break back immediately, but from 0-40 down in the next game Edmund hit three huge serves to level at 40-40. Another service winner saved another break point and Edmund went on to hold for 2-0.

There was not much to choose between the two men for the rest of the first set, though it was generally Edmund who held serve more comfortably. At 5-4 Edmund started with a double fault before two aces helped him to serve out for the set.

At 1-1 in the second set Murray fist-pumped towards his team after saving two break points, but two games later he dropped serve for the second time. After saving five break points in a game that lasted more than 13 minutes the Scot double-faulted on the sixth.

Edmund saw off Murray in straight sets (AFP/Getty Images)

Edmund broke again to go 5-2 up, but Murray proved that his old fighting spirit is still there by breaking back when Edmund served for the match for the first time. Having held serve in the following game, he made Edmund work for his victory, which eventually came when he converted his first match point with a backhand winner down the line.

Murray said he had played “ok” but added: “It wasn't anything special. Conditions were a little bit trickier today with the wind. Generally I enjoy playing in the wind, but when you have not played so many matches, wind makes things a little bit tricky.

“When you're sharp in all of your movements and timing the ball really well, I have always felt I have used the wind to my advantage. Today I don't think I dealt with it as well as Kyle did. I did some things ok, some things not so well.”

With Diego Schwartzman, the top seed, going out of the tournament, Edmund is now the highest ranked player left in the draw, which gives him an excellent chance of winning his first title at tour level. In Thursday’s quarter-finals he will take on Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin.

Cameron Norrie is also through to the quarter-finals after beating his fellow Briton, Jay Clarke, 6-4, 6-3. He now faces Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko.