Injury agony as Edmund exits
KYLE EDMUND’S US Open ground to a painful end when he was felled by a neck injury in the fourth set of his third-round match against teenager Denis Shapovalov.
Seemingly fit as a flea and trading ground strokes with the supremely talented young Canadian, Edmund went to hit a serve in the middle of the third set yesterday and yelped in pain.
He called the trainer at the next change of ends but no amount of massage seemed to help. Five games later, Edmund threw in the towel trailing 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 1-0.
No injury comes at a good time but this could not have happened at a worse moment for Edmund.
The bottom half of the draw lies in tatters with more holes in it than a string vest – Marin Cilic is latest big name on his way home, beaten by Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 yesterday – so this was an opportunity for someone with courage and ambition to make their mark.
Alas, that man Edmund.
“It’s never great to win this way,” said Shapovalov.
“Hopefully it’s nothing too serious. Kyle has been playing unbelievable tennis. If he keeps it up, he’s going to be doing really well. He’s a very tough opponent.
“In one of the games on deuce he hit a second serve and I heard him grunt, as if he had hurt something.
“I missed the return, but I saw something was up and he called for the trainer at that will not be changeover. It’s very unfortunate but at the same time I am happy to be in the fourth round.”
It had all been going so well up until that point.
Edmund was doing what he could to pull rank on his young rival, while Shapovalov was putting on a flashy display to cheer the crowd.
At a set apiece, the two were digging in for battle. And then Edmund hurt his neck.
Attempting to reach the last 16 for the second consecutive year, Edmund walked into the cavernous Arthur Ashe stadium like an old pro.
It is the biggest stadium on the circuit and can be intimidating for the uninitiated but the Yorkshireman had faced Novak Djokovic on the same court last year – he knew what this felt like. Shapovalov, on the other hand, was experiencing everything for the first time.
He made his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon this summer (he lost in the first round) and while he is being tipped for great things in the future, he is still only 18.
As for playing on the main show court – he looked like he was walking on tin-tacks as the match began and it took him a good 15 minutes to lower his heart-rate and gather his thoughts.
Shapovalov, ranked No69 in the world thanks to his run to the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 in Montreal a handful of weeks ago, has talent to spare.
Left-handed, his serve can be deceptive, his forehand can be venomous and his backhand can be destructive. But he is raw and sometimes he goes for too much.
For a set, Edmund’s steady, powerful authority from the baseline was more than enough to suppress the over-exuberant Shapovalov.
But then the younger man shook off his early nerves and started to do what he does best: go for it.
Yes, there would be errors (by the end of two sets, he had racked up twice the number of fluffs as Edmund), but there would also be winners – many, many winners.
Whether the steady Edmund could have beaten erratic Shapovalov, we will never know.
But we will be seeing a lot more of Canada’s young talent in the future.