Edmund: I’m ready to go all the way

KYLE Edmund reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open and says he can go all the way.

The 23-year-old produced another fine display to enhance his burgeoning reputation, hitting 63 winners and 25 aces in a 6-7 (4/7) 7-5 6-2 6-3 victory over Italian Andreas Seppi.

He will now play third seed Grigor Dimitrov, with Rafael Nadal and either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic still in his side of the draw.

But Edmund has a lot of confidence in his game and, having won four matches, does not consider another three to be beyond him.

He said: “I have to believe it. That’s why I’m in the quarter-finals, because every time I step on the court I believe I’m going to win. So it’s no different now.

“It’s great to be in the quarter-finals. It’s certainly my best result at a slam. It’s not easy to win four matches at a grand slam. I’m definitely pleased. It shows I’m improving. Also that the hard work is paying off.

“I feel I have a good ability to control matches. I just have to learn for myself where I haven’t been getting it right to get it right.

“The belief obviously grows as you get better results and go further in tournaments.”

After his gruelling five-set duel with Nikoloz Basilashvili in the intense heat on Friday, the key question was how well was Edmund able to recover.

The British No.2 looked weary in the first set and, although he forced a tie-break, Seppi was clearly the stronger.

And Edmund looked in real trouble when 33-year-old broke serve early in the second set.

But Edmund dialled up his mighty forehand and hit straight back, and when he broke again to level the match, the momentum swung decisively in his favour.

Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki is taking nothing for granted as she tries to chase down a first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

The Dane was world No.1 as a 20-year-old and now, at 27, is three matches away from lifting the trophy at Melbourne Park.

Wozniacki hit top form at Melbourne Park in a 6-3 6-0 victory over Magdalena Rybarikova.

The world No.2 won the biggest title of her career at the WTA Finals to end 2017 but does not want to look past her quarter-final clash with Carla Suarez Navarro.

She said: “I think you can tell my confidence is pretty good at the moment. We’ve played four matches. There’s still three to go. There’s still a long way. So I really just focus on the task ahead of me.”

Wozniacki has had to answer questions about her grand slam-winning potential for the best part of a decade but no longer worries about what might be.

She said: “When you put in the work, then you just hope that’s enough. If it’s not, then you go back to work and try and get better. For me, it’s no pressure, just go out there and have fun.”

Suarez Navarro had a much tougher match on Sunday, recovering from a set and 4-1 down to defeat Anett Kontaveit 4-6 6-4 8-6.

The Spaniard and Wozniacki have met seven times before, with Wozniacki winning five but none of them easily.