Kyle Edmund crashes out of Madrid Open

MADRID: `Kyle Edmund’s impressive run at the Madrid Open came to an angry end as he was beaten by Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov in their quarter-final clash.

Edmund, who had conquered Novak Djokovic and David Goffin in the previous rounds, lost his cool towards the end of a tight second set when he stopped after a spectator called out, and Shapovalov proceeded to serve an ace. The incident temporarily affected Edmund, who had to subsequently save a match point to force a deciding set, in which he eventually fell to exit the tournament 7-5 6-7 (6/8) 6-4.

Edmund had acquitted himself against a player rated as one of the game’s rising stars, swapping breaks early in the first set before a sloppy final service game saw the British number one fall behind.

A tight second set burst into life in the 10th game after the incident which saw Edmund engage in a furious exchange with the umpire over a point he considered could have cost him the match.

But Edmund showed admirable poise to edge through the eventual second set tie-break before Shapovalov grabbed what turned out to be the crucial break in the third game of the decider. Nevertheless the 23-year-old Edmund gave his all in what was his first Masters 1000 quarter-final, and he can expect to be rewarded with a place in the top 20 for the first time when the new rankings appear on Monday. THE INDEPENDENT