Kyle Edmund growing accustomed to increased Wimbledon attention
British No 1 faces Bradley Klahn, who describes Edmund as a "phenomenal" player, on Thursday
Wednesday 4 July 2018 16:22, UK
Kyle Edmund believes the increased scrutiny he is facing is "part and parcel of going up the rankings" as the British No 1 seeks to reach the Wimbledon third round for the first time in his career.
The 23-year-old has risen to a career-high world No 17 this season after making significant strides in the men's game, including his breakthrough run to the Australian Open semi-finals in January.
Edmund, the sole British men's singles player remaining in the draw, opened his campaign with an assured straight-sets win against Alex Bolt and will now face world No 168 Bradley Klahn.
After two-time winner Andy Murray's withdrawal on the eve of the tournament, Edmund shoulders even greater attention but he is undaunted by the pressure he is facing amid his upward trajectory.
"Regardless of how many Brits are there or if Andy is around, there's probably been a bit more attention," Edmund said.
"I've had heaps more off-court stuff to do, from my point of view anyway.
"Tough to say if it was because of Andy not being here or other Brits. I've just had that in general, probably the last six months, with the Australian Open run.
"It's just all part and parcel of professional sport, going up the rankings that it happens."
Edmund, who could meet three-time champion Novak Djokovic in the third round on Saturday, is grateful to now be in the midst of his Wimbledon charge after facing the inevitable pre-tournament questions over his chances.
"You always want to do well at Wimbledon," he said. "There's that build-up period where there's always talking about it, how you're feeling, are you confident. You get asked those questions.
"It's just about going there and wanting to do well. When the time comes, it's about producing."
Edmund's opponent Klahn arrived at Wimbledon qualifying in Roehampton without a tour-level win all season but against the odds secured his passage to the main draw at the All England Club for the first time since 2014, after struggling with injuries over the past few years.
He said: "I went through a lot of questioning whether I should come back and play tennis. There were a lot of times when I was pretty upset, pretty depressed.
"I started looking at other opportunities but I knew I wasn't ready to give up tennis, I knew maybe I had a few more moments like this in me. There's no looking for other opportunities right now.
"I feel like I'm playing better tennis each week, I'm making improvements. Last year I was really just finding my feet, almost relearning the ropes.
"You never know when your week's going to happen. I'm excited. These are the moments I've always envisioned."
The pair have never played a main tour-level match against each other and Klahn is well aware of Edmund's rise up the rankings since their two previous encounters - both in 2014.
"Kyle's a phenomenal player, he's made a big leap this year making his first (Grand Slam) semi-final. It's in his home country, so he's certainly going to have plenty of support," Klahn said.
"I've been able to watch a little bit of him and he's obviously made improvements. It's been so long since I played him so there's not a whole lot I can take from that but I know what I'm in for.
Seeing him [Edmund] as a younger player, I always thought he was going to be someone who was going to be dangerous on tour.
"Obviously big serve, big forehand, so he's going to look to control a lot of the points with that. It's my job to try to neutralise that and get him out of his comfort zone.
"He's got a great approach to how he goes about things. He works extremely hard, he's very professional. Seeing him as a younger player, I always thought he was going to be someone who was going to be dangerous on tour."
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