Wimbledon 2018: Kyle Edmund steps into Andy Murray's shoes by beating Alex Bolt to reach second round
The 21st seed secured a comfortable 6-2 6-3 7-5 victory against the Australian
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The burden of being Britain’s highest ranked singles player appeared to sit comfortably on Kyle Edmund’s shoulders here on Tuesday as the world No 17 eased into the second round with an emphatic 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Australia’s Alex Bolt.
While Andy Murray’s continuing hip problems have seen Edmund become accustomed to being his country’s main hope in the men’s singles at Grand Slam events, this is the first time he has been the highest ranked Briton here.
It was also Edmund’s first appearance on Court One in a singles match, but the 23-year-old looked confident from the start. He might have won in less than an hour and 43 minutes but for a minor slump which saw his opponent fail to serve out for the third set.
“I’m really happy to get through the first round,” Edmund said afterwards. “There’s always a long preparation, lots of build-up, lots of things in your head, excitement and anticipation. You’ve obviously got the media and all that stuff to do, so I’m very happy to have got the first round out of the way and played well.”
Bolt, it has to be said, was the perfect opponent. The 25-year-old Australian was one of the most inexperienced players in this week’s 128-man draw and had not won a tour-level match until last month.
This was the world No 205’s Wimbledon debut following his three victories in qualifying last week. He had lost in the first round on both his previous appearances in Grand Slam tournaments, at the Australian Open in 2017 and 2018, and he had never previously met any opponent ranked in the world’s top 50.
Edmund, nevertheless, is also relatively inexperienced as far as Wimbledon is concerned. He may have reached the semi-finals of this year’s Australian Open, but in his five previous appearances here he had only won one match. That was against his fellow Briton, Alex Ward, the world No 869, 12 months ago.
This is not Edmund’s best surface – he is a rarity among British players in that he performs particularly well on clay – but he believes he has never played better on grass than he has this year and sees no reason why he cannot perform well on it.
Bolt’s 1970s-style moustache was not the only reason why he seemed like a player from another era. He charged into the net as if he was trying to look like John Newcombe, even if neither his volleys nor his moustache could match the former Wimbledon champion’s.
Edmund won the first two sets in just 52 minutes. In the process he made just two unforced errors, won every point on his first serve and did not have to defend any break points.
Bolt, however, improved in the third set. He forced his first two break points in the opening game and converted his third at 2-2, forcing Edmund into a forehand error with the power of his return.
When Bolt served at 5-4 he had one set point, which Edmund saved with a big forehand winner. The Australian looked even more frustrated when he netted a volley on deuce when Edmund’s forehand appeared to be heading out and on break point Bolt missed a backhand.
Two games later Bolt went 15-40 down when serving to stay in the match and promptly netted a volley on Edmund’s first match point. “It was a tricky third set, but I guess it shows how well I was playing and thinking to come back and win it 7-5,” Edmund said afterwards.
Asked about the burden of carrying the nation’s hopes, Edmund said: “I just try to do the best that I can. That’s what got me to this stage – hard work and just doing the best that I can on court.
“There’s nothing different now. It’s great that I can go up the rankings, come out as British No 1 and get the opportunity to play on Court One. It was a great experience.”
He added: “You always want to do well at Wimbledon, especially when your home tournament happens to be the biggest tournament in the world, so I’m always hungry to keep pushing.
“The support today was great. I think a lot of people were probably happy that I won in the way that I did. Everyone can get off to watch England’s World Cup match tonight so it worked out well.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments