‘He can play freely’

again, to have so little expectations in some ways.

“Even though you’re young, first time in the semis, you’re like, ‘I’m going to tear this place to pieces, I’ve got incredible power right now’. It should be very interesting.”

Federer watched Edmund struggle last year, failing to close out tight matches, and he has seen the way he has turned his game around.

“I remember by chance watching his match against Jack Sock in Paris on the outside court when he led four-love in the third set,” said Federer. “He made a mess of it.” Sock went on to win the Paris Masters 1000 title, break into the world’s top 10 and qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Federer said: “It’s nice to see the turnaround from Kyle through the off-season, coming here, playing well.

“It’s big for him, because losing those type of matches, seeing what Jack Sock ended up doing, it kind of hurts. At the same time it makes you believe.

“It’s nice to see. It teaches a good lesson to a lot of the other players that if you stick around, good things happen. Great, great effort. I’m very happy for him.”