Britain’s top man safely through to the second round at Wimbledon – straight sets, no worries, no scares. We have been here before, many times.
But this is not Andy Murray we are talking about. This is Kyle Edmund, Britain’s best player since he overtook Murray in the rankings in March last year. And he turned in a No.1’s performance to snuff out the spirited challenge of Jaume Munar 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
It has taken Edmund time to grow into his status as Britain’s finest. For so many years, the British men stood in the shadow of Murray but when the Scot’s hip problems went from painful to unmanageable a couple of years ago, the spotlight fell on the tall, blond man from Yorkshire. Quietly spoken, understated in everything save for his power game, it was hardly a surprise that Edmund spent quite a while blinking in the glare of attention.
But his run to the Australian Open semi-final last year showed the world what he was made of. The problem then was to maintain that level of success and, alas, illness and injury did not help in that. Just when he looked ready to break into the world’s top 10 at the end of the season, winning his first title in Antwerp, his progress came to a halt when he had to have his tonsils out. This year, he has been dealing with a nagging knee injury.
Now, though, Edmund is back on home soil and after reaching the semi-finals in Eastbourne last week, he is feeling both confident and comfortable. The three matches there helped with his match fitness and getting to the last four was a good fillip before he headed back to London. Even the thought of playing on the biggest stage in the sport in his opening match did not faze him – after taking Novak Djokovic to four sets there last summer, he knows he can play well in the famous stadium.
“I think every time you go on Centre Court or Court 1, you get the feel of it,” he said. “It's always in the bank for next time you go in, that you have some memories there, how you played on there for the next time.
“When you get to play on Centre Court, it's a great buzz, like especially when you have the feeling of knowing what it feels like to go on it. It's great to see your name on the order of play.”
Munar seemed quite pleased to be on the big stage, too. This was something of a baptism of fire for the Spaniard: his first match at Wimbledon, playing the home favourite on Centre Court in the prime, teatime slot – life does not get much better than that. Well, it does if you manage to win but as debuts go, this one was not half bad.
Coming into The Championships on the back of a six-match losing streak on the ATP Tour and with not a single win on a grass court in his career, it would seem reasonable to think that the 22-year-old, world No.88 from Spain would not be feeling too confident. Yet there he was, running down lost causes, scampering after half chances and making life as awkward as he was able for the Englishman.
Sure enough, Edmund needed 10 set points to secure the first set as Munar hung on for all he was worth but once that set was in the bag, the world No.30 flexed those not inconsiderable muscles on his racket arm and headed for the second round. The only blot on his copybook was dropping his serve as he went to close out the match. No matter, he was 5-2 up at the time and there was no cause for panic. He got the job done at the second time of asking.
Now Edmund must face another Spaniard, but one with more experience and more grass court nous than Munar. He plays Fernando Verdasco, the left-handed former world No.7 and former quarter-finalist at the All England Club. Verdasco beat Kamil Majchrzak of Poland, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
