Wimbledon 2018: Pragmatic Kyle Edmund confident in his Grand Slam chances but won’t get ahead of himself
After replacing Andy Murray as British No 1, Australian Open semi-finalist Edmund has full belief in his potential but knows it will take time to reach those heights
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Your support makes all the difference.Kyle Edmund is not the sort of character to go shouting from the rooftops about what he is going to achieve, but as the 23-year-old prepares for his first Wimbledon as the British No 1 he is quietly confident in his ability.
“Yes, I believe my game is good enough,” Edmund said when asked if he believed that he could win a Grand Slam title. “I know my game is improving on the right track.”
Andy Murray’s slide down the world rankings as a result of his 11-month absence because of a hip injury has coincided with his fellow countryman’s rapid progress. Edmund reached his first Grand Slam semi-final in January at the Australian Open, where he eventually lost to Marin Cilic, made his first tour-level final at Marrakech in April and is now ranked No 18 in the world.
With Johanna Konta having slipped to No 24, Edmund is the highest ranked Briton of either sex playing in singles here. The advantage of being seeded is evident in Edmund’s draw – in the first round on Tuesday he faces Australia’s Alex Bolt, the world No 105, with either Japan’s Yuichi Sugita (world No 45) or the American Bradley Klahn (world No 170) to meet the winner – although he is seeded to meet Novak Djokovic in the third round.
However, Edmund has only ever one won match in his five appearances in the main draw at Wimbledon – he beat his fellow Briton, Alex Ward, the world No 869, in last year’s first round – and said it was important to remain realistic about his chances.
He explained: “It’s a dangerous game throwing out comments saying: ‘Yeah, I can win a Grand Slam.’ You also have to be realistic where you are at with your game. For sure, making a semi-final in a Grand Slam gives you belief and confidence. You reach the semis, but then you have also got to beat Cilic and after that possibly the greatest tennis player of all time [Roger Federer, who won the Australian Open].
“My game is going in the right direction. There is still so much more to improve that I can get better. I am improving slowly. I like to have belief but also like to think I am realistic where I am at with my game.
“I’m 23 years old and the guys that are winning Slams at the minute are in their thirties. There is still a long way to go. You have got to stay in the moment. You can't get carried away with what is going on around you.”
Edmund is well aware of the extra focus that will be on him this year. “It’s obvious to see with more people talking about you and speaking to you or even just wanting autographs or selfies,” he said. “People are going to want me to do well there and win ultimately – that is the reality of it. It is like the World Cup at the minute – they want you to win. That is normal. I want to win as well. I will do the best I can.”
He said he had not sought Murray’s advice on how to deal with the pressure of being the British No 1 at Wimbledon. “Andy’s always been willing to answer my questions, but I haven’t asked him that. I’ve asked him other stuff. I deal with it in my own way and try and use people around me, as in coaches and family and people who have been there before, to help me with it.”
Edmund said it would always be “a dream and a goal” to be successful at Wimbledon but added: “I don’t really like talking about that stuff because I would just rather do it than talk about doing this and that.
“It’s easy to talk about it, but it’s so much harder to do it. It’s about having that respect for the tournament rather than just throwing out all these comments and numbers.
Edmund described Wimbledon as “the home of tennis”. He added: “It's like the Masters of golf, something like that. It's the one everyone wants to win, especially when you’re British. It definitely has that sort of presence.
“You sometimes have that when you meet people. As they walk into a room, you can really sense just who they're about. And Wimbledon has that feel about it as a place. You know you're at something special.
“As I've been there more and more, and been lucky enough to become a member, you get familiar with the surroundings and feel a bit more relaxed about it. But, for sure when you're younger and you're playing the juniors, you definitely know you're at such a special place.
“There’s also the history behind it. So many tennis legends have been there. I remember thinking that last year when I played on Centre: how much history there had been there and I was lucky enough to play on Centre Court.”
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