"I've practised three or four days now, two hours a day on court. Just a precaution in Auckland really before this week. It feels good, I'm fine with it"
Thursday 24 May 2018 14:28, UK
British No 2 Kyle Edmund has been given a clean bill of health ahead of the Australian Open and is ready for his first-round clash against US Open runner-up Kevin Anderson on Monday.
The Yorkshireman provided another injury scare when he collapsed on court during his match against Grigor Dimitrov in Brisbane last week after going over on his ankle.
He pulled out of this week's tournament in Auckland but is content with how he has felt in practice in Melbourne ahead of his intriguing meeting with South African big-hitter Anderson, which is first match on Court 3.
He said: "I've practised three or four days now, two hours a day on court. Just a precaution in Auckland really before this week. It feels good, I'm fine with it."
Edmund is the lone British man in the singles draw following the withdrawal of Andy Murray and losses for Cameron Norrie and Liam Broady in qualifying.
But the 23-year-old has his work cut out if he is to make it beyond the tournament's opening day when he takes on the 11th seed.
The pair have met once before, in the second round of the French Open last summer, when Anderson recovered from two sets to one down to win in five.
"It will be a tough match," said Edmund. "Obviously he had a really good year last year, played well the start of this year. It was a good match in Paris, I played well. Of course it's very small margins. I've worked on stuff. Hopefully I can learn from that and do better.
"My serve's improved and putting some more balls into play on the returns is definitely going to be a good one for me against Kevin."
Edmund certainly improved during 2017 but was frustrated to finish it virtually where he started at 50 in the rankings.
He was hurt by a significant number of defeats in close matches and has been working to address that with new coaching team Fredrik Rosengren and Mark Hilton.
"I lost a lot of close matches last year so we discussed how do I do better at that, how can I turn those losses into wins," said Edmund.
"We have a very clear understanding of what needs to be done so we're just trying to work along that path. It's been good so far."
