Kyle Edmund raring to repeat Australian Open success after British No 1’s breakout 2018

Exclusive interview: In 2018 Edmund climbed 36 places in the rankings to end the year as the world No 14, recorded his first victory over Novak Djokovic, broke into the world’s top 20 and claimed his first tour title

Edmund reached the semi-finals of last year’s Australian Open (Getty)

Much will be expected of Kyle Edmund as he begins the new season Down Under, but the British No 1 is determined not to put any unnecessary pressure on himself.

Reflecting on his run to the semi-finals of the 2018 Australian Open, Edmund told The Independent: “Of course I’ll go there next time knowing that I had a great result this year, but I think it’s dangerous to go there expecting to do it again. From my experience the best I can say in terms of how to deal with [the situation] is to respect it, start again and not really expect anything.”

The best season of Edmund’s career, which saw the 23-year-old Briton climb 36 places in the rankings to end the year as the world No 14, took off with his memorable performances in Melbourne. In the months that followed he reached his maiden tour-level final, recorded his first victory over Novak Djokovic, broke into the world’s top 20, won a match on Wimbledon’s Centre Court for the first time and claimed his first tour title.

Edmund will be hoping that his deepening well of experience will help him to deal with the expectations others will have of him when the Australian Open starts in less than three weeks’ time.

“It will be a new experience for me because I’ve never really turned up to an event having had a great result there the previous year,” Edmund said. “In 2019 I’ll be turning up at a Slam having reached the semis the year before and I’ll turn up at a tour event which I won the previous year. It will all be new for me.”

Kyle Edmund defeated Gael Monfils in October to claim his first ATP Tour title (Getty)

Edmund will begin his 2019 campaign at next week’s Brisbane International before playing in Sydney and then Melbourne. He has good memories from this year in Brisbane, where hard-fought victories over Denis Shapovalov and Hyeon Chung, which were followed by a narrow defeat to Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals, put him in good stead for the Australian Open.

In the first round in Melbourne Edmund went on trail Kevin Anderson by two sets to one and was a break down in the decider before recovering to beat the eventual Wimbledon runner-up. He won another energy-sapping five-set encounter in the third round against Nikoloz Basilashvili, fought back after losing the first set against Andreas Seppi in the fourth and then made the whole tennis world sit up and take notice by beating Dimitrov, then the world No 3, in the quarter-finals.

Only the sixth British man in the open era to reach a Grand Slam singles semi-final, Edmund then lost to Marin Cilic in straight sets after suffering a hip injury.

“I remember going to Melbourne knowing that I had to work really hard,” he recalled. “If I go there this time thinking it’s just going to come, it’s not going to happen. You have to put last year’s results out of your mind the best you can and start again from zero. You have to earn your place over and over again.

“You also have to deal with negativity. Looking back, I was a break down in the fifth set in the first round. I could have lost that. I might be a break down in one of the sets this time. That’s tennis. That’s just normal. You’re allowed to be a break down. It’s not like you’re not allowed to lose your serve or lose a point. It’s going to happen.”

Kyle Edmund reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2018 (Getty)

The first month of Edmund’s 2018 campaign also brought evidence of his new-found mental strength. Of his 25 matches that went to deciding sets in 2017, the Briton had lost 18. There was still room for improvement in 2018 – he won nine out of 19 final sets – but there was no doubt that he made significant progress under Fredrik Rosengren, who had taken over as his coach from Ryan Jones.

What area of his own game did Edmund consider he had improved the most in 2018? “Being a bit smarter on the court in terms of my decision-making, using my big game more effectively at certain times in the match,” he said. “I think that’s what helped me to get my bigger wins.”

Edmund also deserved credit for the way he handled the inevitable pressures that came with being British No 1, a position which he inherited from Andy Murray during the Scot’s 11-month break because of injury. Edmund’s level-headed approach enabled him to enjoy his best run at Wimbledon, where he reached the third round for the first time before losing to Djokovic.

How had he coped with the burden of being the biggest home hope at the world’s most famous tournament? “Maybe you just need to have some experience to understand it better,” Edmund said. “That’s something Andy has had to deal with for years and years. Tim Henman did too. I think every year I go back there, I’ll just know more what to expect.”

Edmund is relishing the status of British No 1 (Getty)

The one downside to Edmund’s year was the ill health he suffered at different times through the campaign. After Melbourne it was nearly three months before he won another match and he had another fallow period immediately after Wimbledon. However, he is hoping that having had his tonsils out last month will have cured the problem.

Having experienced those difficult times will mean Edmund will have parts of the new season where he will have good opportunities to strengthen his world ranking, even if that will be balanced by some tournaments – such as the Australian Open – where he will have plenty of points to defend.

“There will be some weeks where I turn up and there will be opportunities, but there will also be times when I turn up and know that even if I win that week I’m not going to go anywhere,” he said. “But because the points start at zero at the start of every year every result does have an impact at the end of it.”

When Edmund arrived in Brisbane 12 months ago there was no fanfare to greet the then world No 50. This week, however, the world No 14 is being given the red carpet treatment. He will be presented to the media on Thursday on board one of Brisbane’s big tourist attractions, the Kookaburra Queenpaddlesteamer, as part of the pre-tournament publicity. It is evidence of the progress he has made in the last year – and of the attention he can expect in the months to come.