SMILE EDMUND!
The happy kid who became our new Davis Cup hero
Before getting hammered by him in the Davis Cup opening rubber, the colourful Serbian veteran Janko Tipsarevic poked some gentle fun at Kyle edmund’s youthful appearance.
‘He’s like 12 years old — very, very young,’ summarised Tipsarevic of the fresh-faced Yorkshireman. once they had played, the former world No 8 was making more generous observations, notably about his opponent’s haymaker of a forehand that is his defining feature as a tennis player.
Not only was it massively powerful, said Tipsarevic, his relatively short wind-up made it extremely difficult to see where he was going to hit it. Dusan Lajovic, edmund’s second victim in Great Britain’s Davis Cup quarter-final victory at the weekend, made similar observations.
Such has been edmund’s improvement that when GB entertain Argentina in September’s semi-final — likely either in Birmingham or Glasgow — Andy Murray’s two singles ties will have less of a mustwin look about them.
The 21- year- old from Beverley does not look like a stereotypical British tennis player, but the contradiction is that he is very much made in england. Unlike Murray, Aljaz Bedene, Jo Konta or Heather Watson, his development has been almost exclusively in this country. edmund was born in Johannesburg but came to live in east riding as a baby when his father Steven, who is originally from south Wales, and mother Denise, who is South African, relocated to Yorkshire.
Cricket was his initial sporting love and he only started tennis at 10, swiftly finding he was pretty good at it. Six years later, in 2011, he was the outstanding player as Great Britain won the junior Davis Cup.
His father, who runs a business on the technology side of the building industry, initially backed his tennis career but he was soon picked up by the Lawn Tennis Association who, unusually, can claim that he is a world- class product of the British game. He is currently coached by ryan Jones, whose father Alan is the veteran who has mentored more players who have gone on to play at Wimbledon than any other British coach.
off the court edmund is unassuming, friendly and notably well-mannered, with his competitive streak not initially obvious. His other sporting passions are Liverpool and formula one.
earlier this summer he moved into his first flat, in Wimbledon, although SW19 may not turn out to be where he enjoys his greatest success. In four attempts he has yet to win a singles match at the Championships, so has never featured in the hullabaloo that surrounds any GB player who does so.
His favourite environments are the hard and clay courts of foreign fields, and that is where the majority of the season’s points are won.
British captain Leon Smith believes that edmund can be a top-10 player in three years.
‘A lot of his game has improved so much. His backhand is rock solid now, both on the cross and down the line. His serve is getting better all the time and his forehand is just so huge,’ said Smith after masterminding another win.
‘And the good thing for Kyle, he won’t mind me saying, is there’s a whole heap of stuff that he can get better at. That’s why I think he’s just going to keep kicking on and every year he’s just going to get better and better.’
He is not going to be another Andy Murray, but if he keeps on his trajectory he ought to be hitting his peak around the same time the 29- year- old Scot succumb to the ageing process. As Murray pointed out, edmund’s weapons may turn out to be superior to his contemporaries who are younger and ahead of him.
Amazingly, there are only six players in the men’s top 100 who are 21 or younger. four of them are ahead of edmund — Nick Kyrgios, Germany’s Alexander Zverev, Croatia’s Borna Coric and American Taylor fritz — who is one higher at 67. The other, at 93, is Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
edmund could yet meet Coric in this year’s Davis Cup final, with Croatia hosting france in the other semi-final. GB would be at home to Croatia or away to france if they make the final.
for now the semi-final venue needs to be sorted, with Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena and Glasgow’s Hydro the two clear frontrunners. The Davis Cup throws up great drama, but among its many issues is the problem of finding stadiums at short notice.