MINDGAMES SET & MATCH

Djokovic: Edmund is the favourite of the home crowd now... all the pressure will be on him instead of me

NOVAK DJOKOVIC claimed that Kyle Edmund will be carrying the pressure of home favouritism “on his back” in their Wimbledon showdown tomorrow.

With no Andy Murray, plus Jo Konta and Katie Boulter crashing out yesterday, the Yorkshireman, 23, is the last Brit standing for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam.

He reached the third round for the first time here with his maiden win on Centre Court against American qualifier Bradley Klahn.

But on a Super Saturday for English sport, he faces a tougher task against triple Wimbledon champion Djokovic.

And the Serbian ace, 31, who lost the 2013 final here to Murray, wasted no time in starting the mind games before Edmund’s biggest-ever match on home soil.

“It probably is going to be one of the two big courts,” said the 12-time Major winner.

“He’s a hometown favourite now that Murray is not here. There’s a lot of expectations and pressure on his back. But he’s handling it pretty well so far.

“He’s a top-20 player of the world. And he’s going towards the top 10.

“He certainly has the capacity and the quality to compete at the highest level.”

Edmund, who beat Djokovic in their last match in Madrid in May, has calmly accepted the responsibility of being Britain’s new great hope.

“I just do the best that I can – I have always approached it that way,” said the Australian Open semi-finalist. “I guess it’s all part of winning and having success. I’m just going to go out there and do my best... see what happens.” The British No.1 won his second consecutive match without dropping a set as he blew away world No.168 Klahn 6-4 7-6 6-2. The world No.17 served 10 aces, and only dropped six points on his first serve all match while not facing a break point. After a tight second set, Edmund stepped up to take the tiebreak 7-0 and raced to victory in one hour and 55 minutes.

“You grow up watching Centre Court and always dream of playing on there,” added Edmund.

“To win your first one is something you will always remember.”

Djokovic, who had no complaints about playing on the new Court 2 for the first time, needed a medical timeout for treatment on his left knee before beating Horacio Zeballos 6-1 6-2 6-3.

“It seems like it’s nothing major,” claimed No.12 seed Djokovic.

“Hopefully it is going to be fine and I will be able to perform.

“When I say ‘not major,’ if it was major I would be pulling out from the tournament.”