Kyle Edmund vows to learn from Davis Cup defeat to David Goffin
Sunday 29 November 2015 13:49, UK
Kyle Edmund vowed to learn the lessons of a chastening experience after his five-set defeat at the hands of David Goffin in the Davis Cup final.
Edmund performed above expectation, opening a two-set lead, only to fall apart in the second half of the contest to lose 3-6 1-6 6-2 6-1 6-0 to a player ranked 84 places above him.
The 20-year-old revealed leg cramps had played their part but said he would be a better player for the experience of such an agonising loss.
"I gave it my best," said Edmund. "I was dominating the first two sets. He couldn't get near me. He turned that and that's something I need to learn from.
"Obviously I'm disappointed that I couldn't do it for the team, but it's one of the most important experiences I'll have, I think."
Reflecting on his stunning start, the Yorkshireman, who was becoming only the sixth player since 1981 to make their Davis Cup debut on a final, said: "It couldn't have gone any better.
"As you say, it turned. The third set he started to get on top of me. Then things started to fall away. In the fourth set, I was struggling physically, and in the fifth set. It was just disappointing that my body couldn't hold up the way I would have liked it to.
"My legs started cramping a bit. I just lost a bit of confidence in my movement. Pushing off every time I was serving and landing, it was just getting really tight.
"At the same time, looking at the positives, I did my best. (It was) my debut, I played very well in the final for Great Britain. It's obviously disappointing for me personally, but lots of positives to take away from it."
In losing, Edmund joined the other five final debutants as a loser. He joins good company though, with Pete Sampras another reluctant member of the club.
While he had been expected to lose, Edmund said he "knew" he could win the match from the start given it was being played on his favourite clay surface - one on which he won a Challenger Tour title just two weeks ago.
"On paper, I was not meant to win," he added. "But we're playing on a claycourt. That's the way I look at it. I believed I could win. You could see that the way I was going in the first two sets, I knew I could win. I knew I had the game to beat him and I was playing well enough.
"That's probably why I was upset at the end because I knew I had the chance to beat him. I was two sets to love up. It's not a nice feeling losing two sets to love up, losing in five. It happens to people.
"You're playing for your country, you're playing for your team-mates. You feel like you've let them down."
Great Britain will hope Andy Murray - who beat Ruben Bemelmans in straight sets on Friday - can also win his second singles rubber and the doubles with brother Jamie to give GB the trophy for the first time in 79 years, but if that does not happen, Edmund could be needed in a decisive fifth rubber on Sunday.
He said he would be ready - if selected; James Ward is also in the team and is a possible replacement.
"The team and myself obviously will look at what I'm doing physically. Our opinions, should I play, shouldn't I play, should James come in? Whatever happens, again, I'll give my best. That's all I can do."
