Kyle done and dusted on Paris clay as Italian ace edges thriller
Kyle Edmund will head home to prepare for the pressure of Wimbledon after admitting he blew his chance to reach the French Open fourth round for the first time.
The British No.1 lost a painful f ive- set slugfest with f iery Italian Fabio Fognini where both players needed medical timeouts – and play was stopped in the first set when a fan fell ill.
Edmund went 2-1 up in the rollercoaster contest but the world No.17 lacked the killer touch against the world No.18 on a day when British interest at Roland Garros died.
The Australian Open semifinalist, who had treatment on his hip in the second set, went down 6-3 4-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 in three hours and 34 minutes.
Fognini only won two more points after needing strapping on his ankle and lost 16 straight points in a ridiculous second set.
But after beating Novak Djokovic and David Goff in in Madrid it was an anticlimactic end to Edmund’s promising clay-court season.
He said: “I had my chances, he had his. He took them better than I did and that is something to learn form.
“I lost to a quality player. It’s now time to reflect a bit and go again for the grass season.” With Andy Murray’s summer still uncertain, Edmund will be seeded at Wimbledon for the first time and be a centre of attention. The British No.1, who plays in the Fever-Tree Championships a at the Queen’s C Club next , a added: “It means m I’m g oing in t he r ight d i rect ion that people maybe expect me to do better. I’m going to do the best I can.”
Scot Jamie Murray and partner Bruno Soares lost 6- 4 5-7 6- 4 to South American duo Maximo Gonzalez and Nicolas Jarry.
Murray said: “It’s frustrating as we got back into it and played some good stuff and didn’t create enough chances in the third set.”
Asked about the condition of his brother Andy he added: “No idea, honestly. I don’t know what his plans are.”
The double Wimbledon champion, who had hip surgery in January, is still off icially scheduled to return at a grass-court tournament in the Netherlands next week.
Brit Heather Watson and her German partner Tatjana Maria also lost 6-1 2- 6 7- 6 to Czech pair Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova.
Rafa Nadal extended his streak of consecutive sets to a personal record of 34 as he beat Richard Gasquet.
The Spaniard took the first 12 points on Court PhilippeChatrier as he won 6-3 6-2 6-2.
And Serena Williams will renew her feud with Maria Sharapova in the fourth round tomorrow – their first meeting since the 2016 Australian Open.
No.28 seed Sharapova needed only 59 minutes to destroy No.6 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-2 6-1.
World No. 451 Wi l l iams, playing her first Grand Slam as a mother, disposed of No.11 seed Julia Goerges 6-3 6- 4 to set up the clash.