Kyle’s got an Ed for heights
McEnroe tips British No.1 to race up rankings and hit top 10 within year
JOHN McENROE has backed Kyle Edmund to be a top-10 player in the next 12 months.
But the British No.1 wants to prove he is already at that level today by beating Italian bad boy Fabio Fognini to reach the French Open third round.
The Australian Open semifinalist, who started the year ranked world No.50, is seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time as he continues to climb the rankings.
McEnroe said: “He’s got a great shot to get into the top 10 – in the next year maximum, maybe less.”
In response world No.17 Edmund said: “For someone to say that is great. Top 10 in waiting, okay – but I have to do it. It doesn’t just come.
“You have to earn it, you have to win the matches. I have to make it happen. I believe I can.
“This match will be a really good test. It would be a nice win. He’s been playing well on clay. It’s one of those matches where it’s a good test to see where you are at and a good experience of playing a top player.
“I’m still pretty young at 23 but hopefully as you get older and you move up the rankings top 10 is for sure a goal. It has to be.”
Edmund has never played Fognini but was a hitting partner for the Davis Cup team when the Italian destroyed Andy Murray on clay in Naples in 2014.
The British No.1, who described the world No.18 as “emotional”, added: “Fabio has a unique way of playing, he has his own style. He knows what to do on court. He finds the areas on the court which are very good on clay.”
British Davis Cup captain Leon
Smith agrees with McEnroe and said: “Kyle should be in the top 10 by next year. He’s beating great players and pushes the top guys really close.
“He is just going to get more consistent. He will have that sense of belonging to this stage now and that’s what is exciting. You’ve seen him grow in confidence.
“Because he’s not an extrovert it was going to take him a little more time. His ranking and results give him that sense of, ‘Yeah, I’m here because of my tennis’.
“The good thing about him, unusually for a British player – although Tim Henman got to a semi and Andy is a very good clay court player – Kyle is really suited to clay.
“It’s going to be a really good match – the flair and unpredictability of Fognini and the power game of Kyle.” Fognini was given the biggest fine in Wimbledon history (£21,000) in 2014 for hurling his racquet to the grass, abusing an official and making an obscene gesture. And he was fined £72,000 and given a suspended Grand Slam ban for verbally abusing a female umpire at last year’s US Open. Marriage to ex-player Flavia Pennetta and becoming a father have not calmed him. Fognini slagged off the ATP bid to promote under-21s and said: “The NextGen is bull **** .” And as for today he added: “I don’t see myself as the underdog. I feel good and I am playing well. It will be a 50-50 game.”