Edmund finds silver lining after losing his longest match
It takes a serene temperament to spend four hours on the court, watch your opponent break you at the last, and still come away sounding satisfied with your efforts.
But then Kyle Edmund, the British No2, has always had an ability to see the bigger picture. Even as a teenager at the National Tennis Centre, he distinguished himself by never getting bent out of shape by his results – a more valuable asset in this game than you might think.
As Andy Murray has demonstrated, by finally cracking the No1 ranking in his 30th year, tennis delivers its rewards slowly. And Edmund, who turned 22 in January, is growing stronger with each passing season.
In the third round in Paris yesterday, Edmund went down to former top-10 player Kevin Anderson over five sets. At 3hr 59min, it was comfortably the longest match he had played. And it was also the first time he had stayed on the match court for more than three hours without fading physically.
“It wasn’t hot at all today,” said Edmund after his 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 defeat, “even though the sun came out for a brief bit. But four hours on court is still a physical match. Maybe there weren’t a lot of rallies but there were a lot of explosive movements, trying to return serves.
“I held up pretty well, which gives me confidence. I’m still fairly young at the five sets. I’ve only played a handful in my career. I didn’t lose the match for a physical reason. That’s something we addressed [so] I’m moving in the right direction.”
Edmund was scheduled on Court 2, one of the smallest playing areas at Roland Garros. The revelation was the quality of his hitting off the backhand side. There were 16 winners here, more than Anderson managed, although the South African made up for that with 24 aces. At this stage, Anderson leads the tournament standings with 58 aces in all, and has dropped his serve only four times in three rounds.
Also yesterday, third seed Stan Wawrinka had to fight his way out of trouble early on against Fabio Fognini on Court Suzanne Lenglen. But, as with Murray, Wawrinka gained momentum after taking the first set on a tie-break. He ran out a 7-6, 6-0, 6-2 winner.
The day’s programme could not be completed, however, because of the deluge that descended on Paris at around 5pm. This means that Murray’s next opponent is not yet known, although the giant Russian 21-year-old Karen Khachanov landed an unexpected blow by taking the first set on a tiebreak against 21st seed John Isner.
In the women’s event, meanwhile, Simona Halep dispatched Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 7-6 to maintain her status as the bookies’ favourite.