Weeks 3 & 4 - Australian Open, Melbourne (hard)

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Weeks 3 & 4 - Australian Open, Melbourne (hard)

JonH · All-time great

Now that's a good win.!

-- Edited by JonH on Sunday 21st of January 2018 08:43:36 AM

dougie · Club Coach

Great result from a set and a break down. Backhand so much improved.

JonH · All-time great

3Rd in the Race!

Oakland2002 · All-time great

How can you go back to bed after that!

Fantastic win, undoubtedly all the practice he got in 2017 having had the ball hit to his backhand has played off! Now very reliable and he really improved when he became more selective about running round his forehand from the 2nd set on.

Great result and I am sure he cant wait for the QF.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

blob wrote:
As I think Oakland is making a very pertinent point, I'll try and be arsed
So, here is an attempt to display the contrast that Oakland is describing - clear improvement, evidenced in the tightening of the groupings in 2017.
To prevent the axes from becoming confusingly stretched, I have removed 2 outlier wins: one in 2016 against WR1964; one in 2017 against WR869

Blob that is amazing a picture worth a 1000 words, indeed my post was partly a product of your illuminating statistical plots in the ladies section.

I think the point to take away is Kyle played a lot of high level Tennis last year performing better (results wise) than he did against worse players in 2016. A marker of a fantastic season of development but not reflected in a substantial improvement in rank. Yet!

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Just woken up here in Brazil. It's 6am here and had feared the worst after the strangest dream in which Kyle had lost in straight sets but had made it through to the SF of the Snooker World Championship at the Crucible. Any dream analyzers want to analyze that one for me confuse

Back to the real world, another fantastic win and through to the QF. Wow. Let's say that again. Kyle Edmund is in a Grand Slam Quarter Final. Just Wow. He's come along way since I first saw him play on Feb 19th 2012 when as an unranked 17 year old, he stepped on court against Mark Vervoort (then ranked 881) in Murcia and promptly bageled him in about 12 minutes flat.

After victory today he now stands at 35 in the live rankings and still on an upward trajectory. So proud of him. I am also glad he won today because after defeating Anderson in R1, so many were saying (not necessarily on this board) that this was an "easy draw" and he needed to take advantage of it. Anything less than a QF would probably have been seen by those people as a failure - not that I would have agreed with that assessment. But take advantage he certainly has. And it has been far from easy.

From here, going any further in this tournament will be a bonus, but given the way he is playing I wouldn't rule it out.

Get in there Kedders.

paulisi · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
Just woken up here in Brazil. It's 6am here and had feared the worst after the strangest dream in which Kyle had lost in straight sets but had made it through to the SF of the Snooker World Championship at the Crucible. Any dream analyzers want to analyze that one for me

you have gone a bit loopy...(snooker loopy smile )

indiana · Tennis legend

Super !

Kyle didn't come out of the blocks well, not seeming to particularly settle in at all and often going for too much ( I was glad that they weren't on court as quickly as the organisers seemed to kind of want but he still didn't seem quite with it ). His serve got him to the TB with nothing much happening on return and it would have been ( very nice ) daylight robbery if he had won that set in the TB. More going for too much, and too near lines cost him there.

But thereafter seemed a) to somehow look more energised and still b) put his thinking cap on and play smarter and more selective about when to go for stuff or at least give himself more margin. His winners to errors ratio after the first set and a bit seemed very good and the stats reflected it. Better play generally, a serve on real song, confidence naturally grew. And he saw it out so well at the end, routinely when there sure could be understandable reasons for it not to be.

Slam quarter final, and now Dimitrov and Kyrgios let's have a nice long slugfest I think Dimitrov scratching through may be the best option but hey Kyle's there whatever with a match to look forward to and to look to find a way to win. For now, be proud of your efforts, lad.

-- Edited by indiana on Sunday 21st of January 2018 10:02:18 AM

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

The full result doesn't seem to have been recorded, so:

L16: Kyle Edmund WR 49 defeated Andreas Seppi (ITA) WR 76 by 6-7(4) 7-5 6-2 6-3

In the match to decide whom he will face in his first-ever Grand Slam quarter-final, Dimi's taken the first set by 7-6(3).

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Of the two, I would rather Kyle faced Dimitrov. He is a very good player but is more predictable than Kyrgios, who could be inspired by the home crowd. Given that Kyle ran Dimitrov so close in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago, he would go into the match believing he has a good chance.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

There's an analysis by Stu Fraser on The Sunday Times site of Kyle's progress so far under the heading "Battle-hardened Edmund is closing in on Murray's No 1 status". First three paragraphs:

After sealing another hard-fought victory in the fourth round of the Australian Open, Kyle Edmund jumped in the air and threw out his right arm, fist pumped, in celebration. The 23-year-old may not be renowned for such joyful reactions, but it seemed a fitting way to mark a hugely significant moment in British tennis.

It is more than 13 years since any Briton other than Andy Murray reached the mens singles quarter-finals of a grand slam tournament, when Tim Henman, in the latter years of his career, embarked on a run to the last-four of the 2004 US Open.

And here in Melbourne, it was way back in 1985 when the Union Jack was last represented by a non-Murray in the last-eight. John Lloyd was the man responsible, winning four matches when the tournament was played on the grass of Kooyong, around five miles east of its present site at Melbourne Park.

Closing paragraph:

It is also inevitable, with Murray on the sidelines, that Edmund will become the new British No 1 in the coming months, possibly around the start of March. He could even do it here if he was to reach the final. But lets not get too carried away, for now.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
Of the two, I would rather Kyle faced Dimitrov. He is a very good player but is more predictable than Kyrgios, who could be inspired by the home crowd. Given that Kyle ran Dimitrov so close in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago, he would go into the match believing he has a good chance.

After an hour & 49 minutes, Dimi takes the second set tie-break by 7-4 to go into a two-set lead.

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Fantastic stuff; well done Kyle :D :D :D

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Dimi does for Kyrgios by 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(4) in three hours & 27 minutes, half an hour longer than Kyle's match.

QF ( biggrin ): (3) Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) WR 3 (= CH) vs Kyle Edmund WR 49

The head-to-head, as has already been mentioned, is 1-0 to Dimi after that close match (until Kyle turned his ankle) in Brisbane two or three weeks back.