Australian Open 2018: Kyle Edmund reaches Grand Slam quarter-finals for first time with win over Andreas Seppi
British interests in Melbourne remain alive as Edmund beats Italian Seppi 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the last eight for the first time in his career
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Your support makes all the difference.Thanks largely to Andy Murray – with a little help from Johanna Konta – Britain has been represented in the singles quarter-finals here at the Australian Open every year since 2010. With Murray absent this year following hip surgery and Konta suffering an early exit it seemed that the run might be about to end, but Kyle Edmund ensured a British presence in the last eight with another spirited performance here on Sunday.
Recovering from a slow start, Edmund beat Andreas Seppi 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 as the world No 49’s thumping forehands and bold serves, including 25 aces, battered the 33-year-old Italian into submission. Edmund is normally a reserved character who does not show much emotion on court, but at the end he leapt into the air in celebration.
In earning a quarter-final showdown with Grigor Dimitrov, Edmund became the first British man other than Murray to reach the last eight here since John Lloyd in 1985. He is also the first British man other than Murray to have reached the singles quarter-finals at a Grand Slam tournament since Tim Henman made the semi-finals at the US Open in 2004.
Edmund, who at the end of this fortnight is set to climb to a career-high position at around No 35 in the world on the strength of this result, had reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament on only one previous occasion, at the 2016 US Open.
If the draw has opened up for Edmund in that his last three opponents have all been ranked outside the world’s top 50, it should be remembered that he knocked out Kevin Anderson, the world No 12 and last year’s US Open runner-up, in the first round. He has also won two five-set matches here for the first time in a single tournament.
Seppi, the world No 76, is a highly experienced campaigner who has claimed plenty of big scalps in his time. A former top 20 player, he was appearing in his 51st consecutive Grand Slam tournament, though he has never made it to a quarter-final. While the Italian has no major weapons, he is a consistent ball-striker, as he demonstrated in winning the first set.
The mini-heatwave of last week has been replaced by significantly cooler temperatures – it was 28C at the start of the match at around 4.30pm - though the humidity has been higher in the last two days. While there were some Italian fans in the crowd, it was clear from an early stage that Edmund had the majority of the support in Hisense Arena, which is the third of the main show courts here.
Both players held serve comfortably in the early stages, but at 3-4 in the opening set Edmund had to save five break points, three of them with unreturned serves. They were the only break points of the set, which went to a tie-break. There were no mini-breaks until Edmund served at 4-5, upon which Seppi cracked two successive backhand winners down the line to take the set.
When Seppi made the first break of serve in the third game of the second set Edmund’s prospects were not looking so good, but the Briton’s response could not be faulted. Not only did he go on the attack but he also managed to cut out the mistakes which had kept giving Seppi opportunities. Having made 23 unforced errors in the opening set, Edmund made just six in the second.
With Seppi serving at 2-1, Edmund forced his first break point of the match, only to put a smash into the net. Two points later, however, the Briton clenched his fist in celebration as a thumping forehand winner put him level at 2-2. At 5-6 Seppi saved one set point with a service winner but on the next the Italian missed a forehand to give Edmund a foothold in the match.
By the time Edmund had gone 3-0 up in the third set he had won five games in a row. Striking the ball with much greater confidence, the Briton dictated most of the points, denying Seppi the chance to attack. By the end of the match he had hit 63 winners to Seppi’s 42.
When Seppi served at 2-5 Edmund broke again. A splendid attacking forehand took him to set point, which he converted immediately with a cracking forehand cross-court return winner.
Edmund continued to set the pace in the fourth set, but had to be patient as Seppi offered some stern resistance. The Italian, who took a medical time-out for treatment on his right shoulder early in the set, saved three break points in the second game and another two in the sixth, but in the eighth he finally succumbed to the pressure of Edmund’s pounding returns.
There was no holding back from Edmund as he served for the match. A splendid inside-out forehand took him to match point, which he converted with a service winner to secure victory after nearly three hours.
Dimitrov reached the quarter-finals with a thrilling 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 victory over Nick Kyrgios, who was the last Australian left in singles competition. Dimitrov, the world No 3, was a model of consistency throughout, while Kyrgios hit some extraordinary winners, including 36 aces.
The excitement reached fever pitch in the fourth set. At 3-4 Kyrgios was broken when he missed an easy smash, but in the following game it was Dimitrov’s turn to wobble. The Bulgarian went 15-40 down with a double fault, after which Kyrgios retrieved the break with a backhand winner down the line.
In the ensuing tie-break Kyrgios netted what should have been a routine forehand to give Dimitrov a 4-3 lead. When the Australian served at 4-6 Dimitrov converted his match point with a wonderful forehand cross-court pass.
“Playing against Nick is always tricky,” Dimitrov said afterwards. “He deserves a lot of credit here. He fought really hard. It was one of those matches where you have to be locked-in and take any opportunity that you get.”
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