Edmund Reaches Maiden Grand Slam Quarter-Final
Kyle Edmund reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open after securing a gritty 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Andreas Seppi on Sunday.
Edmund becomes the first British man other than Andy Murray, to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam since Tim Henman at the 2004 US Open. The World No. 49 won 80 per cent of points behind his first serve and hit 63 winners in the two-hour, 57-minute contest.
Edmund will meet either Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the semi-finals.
"He got off to a good start," said Edmund. "Tennis, sometimes you don't win every point and don't win all the games you want to. There was some problem-solving. I thought he actually came out very well and timed the ball well, dictating probably more points than I was. Was probably doing a little bit more reactive stuff. It was really good to turn it around, basically. I just stuck in there. Scoreboard pressure. Broke him at 6-5. After that, I really took control."
A tight first set went to a tie-break, after Edmund saved the only break points on offer to reach 4-4 earlier in the set. Serving at 4/5 in the tie-break, Edmund lost both of his service points as Seppi moved to within two sets of his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
Seppi, at No. 76 in the ATP Rankings, broke Edmund’s serve in the third game of the second set to grasp control of the match, but the Brit replied immediately with a break of his own before leveling the match on his second set point with a timely second break in the 12th game.
Edmund grew in confidence in the third set, hitting five aces and dropping just one point on his first serve. The only British man in the draw broke the Italian’s serve twice, both times to 15, to move to within a set of victory. And the early stages of the fourth set saw Edmund create break point opportunities at both 1-0 and 3-2, but he could not convert. Eventually the breakthrough came in the eighth game, which left Edmund serving for the match. The 23-year-old did not falter, sealing his place in a first Grand Slam quarter-final on his first match point, blasting an unreturned serve.
"It's great to be in the quarter-finals," Edmund added. "It's certainly my best result at a slam. You know, it's not easy to win four matches at a Grand Slam. I'm definitely pleased. Shows I'm improving. Also the hard work is paying off. Just that constant, working at everything in my game, on and off the court. It's good when you get results and it comes together... It's good to really get a good result here. I'm playing well, feeling good and I want to keep pushing on as well as I can, for sure."
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Edmund becomes the first British man other than Andy Murray, to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam since Tim Henman at the 2004 US Open. The World No. 49 won 80 per cent of points behind his first serve and hit 63 winners in the two-hour, 57-minute contest.
Edmund will meet either Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the semi-finals.
"He got off to a good start," said Edmund. "Tennis, sometimes you don't win every point and don't win all the games you want to. There was some problem-solving. I thought he actually came out very well and timed the ball well, dictating probably more points than I was. Was probably doing a little bit more reactive stuff. It was really good to turn it around, basically. I just stuck in there. Scoreboard pressure. Broke him at 6-5. After that, I really took control."
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| Kyle Edmund reaches his first Grand Slam quarter-final after beating Andreas Seppi at the Australian Open on Sunday. |
Seppi, at No. 76 in the ATP Rankings, broke Edmund’s serve in the third game of the second set to grasp control of the match, but the Brit replied immediately with a break of his own before leveling the match on his second set point with a timely second break in the 12th game.
Edmund grew in confidence in the third set, hitting five aces and dropping just one point on his first serve. The only British man in the draw broke the Italian’s serve twice, both times to 15, to move to within a set of victory. And the early stages of the fourth set saw Edmund create break point opportunities at both 1-0 and 3-2, but he could not convert. Eventually the breakthrough came in the eighth game, which left Edmund serving for the match. The 23-year-old did not falter, sealing his place in a first Grand Slam quarter-final on his first match point, blasting an unreturned serve.
"It's great to be in the quarter-finals," Edmund added. "It's certainly my best result at a slam. You know, it's not easy to win four matches at a Grand Slam. I'm definitely pleased. Shows I'm improving. Also the hard work is paying off. Just that constant, working at everything in my game, on and off the court. It's good when you get results and it comes together... It's good to really get a good result here. I'm playing well, feeling good and I want to keep pushing on as well as I can, for sure."
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