Edmund sends No 11 seed packing in Melbourne.

Giant-killing act as Briton comes back against big-hitter Anderson

Kyle Edmund pulled off the best victory of his career, defeating US Open finalist Kevin Anderson in the opening round of the Australian Open.

It looked a horrible draw for Britain’s only male singles player but he stepped up in the absence of Andy Murray.

Seven months after losing to Anderson in five sets in the third round of the French Open, Edmund recovered from two sets to one down to win 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal was happy to see his confidence in his body play out with an emphatic win over Victor Estrella Burgos.

The world number one came into the tournament without having played a warm-up event following knee problems at the end of last season.

But he was anything but rusty as he raced to a 6-1 6-1 6-1 win in just an hour and 34 minutes.

Edmund had a bad habit in 2017 of losing close matches but was near faultless at the big moments and clinched victory on his first match point after three hours and 59 minutes.

The 23-year-old said: “I lost a lot of close ones last year.

“I wanted to do better this year, especially against those top guys.”

Edmund saw Murray at a British Davis Cup team dinner on Friday evening, and the former world number one will have been delighted by this result as he begins his rehabilitation following hip surgery.

As for Edmund’s pink and black Nike kit, the 23-year-old is not convinced. “Obviously it worked,” he said. “I don’t think pink really suits me. I think if you have a better tan, it would suit you.”

Edmund next faces Uzbek Denis Istomin, who defeated Novak Djokovic in the second round 12 months ago.

Things were straightforward for Australian title hope Nick Kyrgios, who promised a new mature approach ahead of the tournament and largely delivered in a 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory over Rogerio Dutra Silva.

Kyrgios received a code violation for swearing at a spectator who he felt was being too noisy, but otherwise kept his focus on the matter in hand.

Elsewhere, a terrible day for America in the women’s draw was compounded by defeats for eighth seed Jack Sock and 16th seed John Isner.

Third seed Grigor Dimitrov, a semifinalist 12 months ago, eased past qualifier Dennis Novak 6-3 6-2 6-1 to begin his campaign in fine style.

It was a trickier first outing for sixth seed Marin Cilic, who dropped a set to Vasek Pospisil before coming through 6-2 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7/5).

Denis Shapovalov won the battle of the teenagers 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7/5) against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Picture: Getty. Britain’s Kyle Edmund celebrates the biggest victory of his career, progressing to the second round of the Australian Open at the expense of big-hitting South African Kevin Anderson.