‘Kyle’s a different person now he believes in his game’
The Kyle Edmund who is flying home today is a completely different person to the one who started the Australian Open, according to his coach Fredrik Rosengren.
On Jan 15 – the day when Edmund played an intimidating first-round match against Kevin Anderson – he had never beaten a top-15 player, or won more than a single main-draw match in Melbourne. Now he has
become the first unseeded male to reach a grand-slam semi-final since 2008.
“I can’t tell you how much he changed in one week,” explained the irrepressible Rosengren.
“For him to say, ‘I have the feeling I can play with the best players’ – that is a great thing for a coach to hear. I can say, ‘You are good, you are great, you’re the king!’ If you believe that yourself, that’s another story. He has really believed in his level here and that is so good. He
had his day not only on court, but also off court. He grew as a person, he learnt to enjoy this extra pressure, this extra media, more people watching him practise, more people wanting his autograph, all this.
“His life changed actually in one day, as soon as he beat [Andreas] Seppi [in the fourth round]. He handled it unbelievably good.”
From here, the intention is to move on to clay courts – a strength of Edmund’s, because this slowpaced surface allows him an extra
split second to line up his bouncing bomb of a forehand.
Yet Edmund’s team are aware the original plan – which was to travel to Marbella on Monday in preparation for next weekend’s Davis Cup meeting with Spain – could be unhinged by his hip injury.
If he cannot play, Great Britain – already hamstrung by Andy Murray’s post-surgery rehab and Dan Evans’s cocaine ban – will probably be left with two first-time singles players in Liam Broady and Cameron Norrie. It is not only the physical hangover from 17 hours of tennis, and 24 sets, that will make this an awkward decision for Edmund, who loves the team dynamic of the Davis Cup. He is also likely to feel some kind of emotional let-down after his life-changing experience.
But perhaps his greatest virtue throughout his career, going back to his early teens, has been an ability to refocus his sights after both highs and lows. As Edmund’s childhood coach, John Black, said this week: “Kyle is a hard worker, not a conditional worker.” Black also revealed his old motto: “Give Kyle a taste and he takes a bite.”
This whole fortnight has certainly whetted Edmund’s appetite for tennis stardom, and as soon as his hip has healed, he will travel to South America looking to build his brand even further. “I just hope this is a teaser, and that he wants to have these days again,” Rosengren concluded. “I’m sure he will. I am so proud of him.”