Wimbledon 2018: Kyle Edmund's Eastbourne campaign comes to disappointing end

Kyle Edmund had been looking in good shape to claim his first tour-level title after his victory over Andy Murray 24 hours earlier, but the world No 18’s run at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne came to a disappointing end on Thursday when he was beaten in the quarter-finals by Mikhail Kukushkin.

Edmund, who lost in his only tour final in Marrakech two months ago, was the highest ranked player left in the men’s field at Devonshire Park but failed to capitalise on a strong start and was beaten 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Kukushkin, the world No 90, has no great grass-court pedigree, having won only four matches in his six visits to Wimbledon, but the 30-year-old Kazak struck the ball more consistently than Edmund in the second and third sets.

Edmund took the first set despite dropping serve for the first time at 4-4, when he missed a backhand which should have been a routine winner. Kukushkin had a set point in the next game, but Edmund fought hard and levelled to 5-5 when he converted his fifth break point. Two games later the Briton broke again to take the set.

Kukushkin took a medical time-out for treatment on his right shoulder before the start of the second set, but it was the Kazak who went on to take charge. Edmund dropped serve at 1-1 and again at 3-5, a double fault handing Kukushkin the set.

Edmund failed to convert a break point in the first game of the deciding set and was immediately made to pay for it in the following game when his missed forehand handed Kukushkin a 2-0 lead.

Hope flickered for the Briton when Kukushkin served at 30-30 in the following game, only for the Kazak to make a successful Hawk-Eye challenge after his forehand had been called out. Edmund complained bitterly that the point should have been replayed because the “out” call had affected his missed backhand, but the umpire did not budge and Kukushkin went on to hold serve.

The incident appeared to do little for Edmund’s spirits. Salt was rubbed into his wounds when Kukushkin broke again to lead 5-1 and the Kazak had little trouble serving out for the match.

Kukushkin will now face the 30-year-old German, Mischa Zverev, whose younger brother, Alexander is the world No 3. Mischa beat Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-3, the world No 67’s serve-and-volley game surprising the Canadian teenager.

Cameron Norrie is expected to climb to a career-high No 74 in the world rankings following his run to the quarter-finals at Eastbourne, but the 23-year-old Briton might feel he missed a chance when he was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko.

Lacko, the world No 94, won most of the big points and punished some weak second serves by Norrie. “He's just a very experienced player on the grass,” Norrie said afterwards. “But I was happy with my attitude and the way I performed out there and dealt with everything. I'm feeling good leading into Wimbledon.”

In the semi-finals Lacko will take on Italy’s Marco Cecchinato, who reached the last four at the French Open earlier this month.

Karolina Pliskova’s defence of her women’s title ended when she was beaten 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Pliskova led 4-1 in the third set before Sabalenka recovered to record her first victory over a top 10 opponent. She will now face Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 7-5.

Caroline Wozniacki, who was runner-up last year, followed up her victory over Johanna Konta by beating Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-3. The world No 2 will now face Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who beat Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-7, 7-6.