Edmund hits out at Spanish ‘dirty tricks’
KYLE EDMUND accused the sneaky Spaniards of dirty tricks after a late change to their line-up just before their Davis Cup semi-final.
The British star only learned five minutes before walking out that the hosts had subbed left-hander Feliciano Lopez in the place of Pablo Carreno Busta.
The Spaniards claimed the World No.27 suffered a thigh injury after the team had been named.
But the former British No.1, again picked ahead of Andy Murray, was not affected by the lack of preparation.
He used his big serve and forehand to hammer his way to victory 6-3 7-6 – his third consecutive singles victory since being recalled on Thursday.
Edmund said: “I found out about the change basically five minutes before.
“And yeah, Busta actually came to warm up on the bike but after two minutes, he left.
“I said, ‘Something is a bit weird there’. “I think they knew what was going on but they just went to the rules, they could do that.
“I was smiling about it when I got told. Sort of like, ‘Okay, I see what’s going on’. They’re very different players. You couldn’t get any more different.
“But if you say about this spirit, it’s professional sport, this is why we always talk about these things. It happens in football, little mind games.
“I just accepted it. On paper maybe they didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t think they did anything wrong.
“But once it’s done, it’s done. And I was just more up for getting out there and playing and didn’t care who I sort of was playing, I just wanted to go out there and play.”
Despite the LTA giving away 800 free tickets at the cost of £60,000, there was overwhelming support for local boy Lopez – with unsporting cheering during Edmund’s serve. on December 7 in a bid to win back the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts both he and Fury have held, doesn’t want to diminish the hard-earned reputation he has carved out in boxing for the sake of appearing in a ‘pantomime.’
Asked if he’d ever consider it, he said: “No. We were talking about it, when we go to Saudi we go for our respective crafts.
“Other people go to Saudi for a pantomime. “I’m dedicated to the craft and people know that.
“They know they can’t call me up to come and do wrestling.
“They call me up to do boxing and that’s all I want, my respect in boxing. It’s hard to get