Kyle Edmund prepares for third-round US Open clash against Denis Shapovalov
"It's going to be a tough match but at the same time I'm playing well so definitely no reason why I shouldn't go out there feeling confident"
Friday 1 September 2017 18:59, UK
Britain's last remaining hopeful at the US Open Kyle Edmund says there is no reason why he shouldn't go into his match against Denis Shapovalov 'feeling confident'.
Edmund will carry the British flag alone into the third round of the singles at the US Open after following up a round one victory over Robin Haase with another impressive win defeating American Steve Johnson to book a date with exciting young Canadian Shapovalov.
An explosive left-hander with a show-stopping single-handed backhand, the 18-year-old stunned No 8 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
His scalps in 2017 also include Edmund, who he beat at Queen's Club in June, but the British No 2 is quietly confident.
I believe my ball-striking is really good, it's some of the best in the world, but I think where I'm going wrong is a little bit in other areas
"He obviously beat me in the grass-court season but I think he didn't have a great clay-court season and he got on the grass pretty early, which I think really helped him," said the 22-year-old.
"He's been playing well in terms of this run in Montreal and then qualifying, so he is feeling good. It's going to be a tough match but at the same time I'm playing well so definitely no reason why I shouldn't go out there feeling confident."
Edmund's performances have demonstrated a growing maturity, his powerful forehand complemented by intelligent decision-making, and a few more emotions too.
Naturally an introvert, Edmund has been trying to be bolder on court and feels it is working.
He said: "Maybe I've been a little bit more animated. I believe my ball-striking is really good, it's some of the best in the world, but I think where I'm going wrong is a little bit in other areas.
"That's one of the things I've tried to do a little bit more is take the fight to the opponent mentally. Just when I feel it's an appropriate time to make my feelings heard, I will do it, I won't do it unnecessarily, but I feel it's definitely helped me."
When Edmund and Shapovalov faced each other in the Davis Cup in February, Shapovalov was defaulted and fined $7,000 for hitting a ball in anger that struck the chair umpire Arnaud Gabas in the face, fracturing the official's left eye socket.
This left Great Britain and Edmund victorious but barely able to believe what had happened.
"I definitely watched it back," said Edmund. "You can see on the video that my head was down when he hit it. I thought he hit it against the boards at the side where our team was.
"I thought the umpire was going, 'oh no, what's he done? You can't smack a ball like that so close to people', and then I realised it actually hit him.
"It's quite funny actually, everyone is in shock, no one is really doing anything. A very weird one. It got a few YouTube hits. All of my matches have got something like 5,000 or 10,000, then you go on that and it's 200,000 just from that incident.
"I don't think it will ever happen again. In the moment, he obviously realised he did wrong. In a funny way, I think it's actually helped him mature because since then he has done well. He has really learned from it and moved forward."
Were Shapovalov to make the fourth round, he would be the youngest man to do so at Flushing Meadows since Michael Chang in 1989 and at any Grand Slam since Marat Safin in 1998.
Sky Sports Tennis will have all the action from the US Open covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with our live blogs and updates throughout the fortnight as the Grand Slam year reaches its climax.
On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Who will win the US Open titles this year? Have your say...
We will also have coverage of the World Tour Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports.
