Kyle Edmund targets US Open challenge to kick off a big finish to his best year yet
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Loading... - Agnes Lehnert
- 27 Aug 2021
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Kyle Edmund is targeting a final flourish to his best ever year as he prepares for a hectic four-week spell, starting with the US Open.
The British No.1 and 16th seed faces Italian Paolo Lorenzi here at Flushing Meadows on Monday afternoon as he looks to make up for the disappointment of being forced to retire during his third round tie with Denis Shapovalov last year.
And after the last major of the year in New York, Edmund is set to feature in two team events with Great Britain’s Davis Cup World Group play-off against Uzbekistan followed by the Laver Cup in Chicago.
Edmund admitted he was thrilled to be named in Bjorn Borg’s six-man Team Europe for the Laver Cup clash with top stars from the rest of the world including Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
The 23-year-old kicked off 2018 by reaching the Australian Open semi-finals, reached his first tour level final in Marrakech and took on Djokovic on Centre Court in the fourth round of Wimbledon.
Edmund doesn’t want his year to peter out and said: “After the US Open it’s like the home straight and it’s important to finish strongly and not let it fade away.
“I’ve had the best year of my career. The key to being a good tennis player is to have a consistent year. The tennis calendar is hectic these days and it will be busy.
“But it’s the last push towards the end of the year with the two team competitions. I want to play Davis Cup but it depends how I do.
“It’s very exciting to be named in the Laver Cup team. It doesn’t have the history of the Davis Cup but it’s a level of competition where my team-mates are all top 10 so it shows the high standard.
“The reason I’ve been selected is because some of the top guys didn’t decide to play because I’m not in the top six in Europe but as you go down the list I was one of them and to be in the position to be asked is nice.
“To play an elite event like that is always exciting. You’re representing Europe and after watching last year’s event I liked how seriously it was taken and how much the players were into it.
“You have to enjoy your tennis career as much as possible and when you have opportunities to play alongside Novak and Roger then you have to grasp it because when you look back it will be a great memory.
“I know my team-mates a little bit from chatting in the changing rooms and I’ve played Novak a few times and practiced with Roger.”
Edmund lost to Steve Johnson, who he defeated at last year’s US Open, in his Winston-Salem Open quarter-finals last week.
He admitted: “I would have like to have won more matches definitely but each week I’ve been getting better and better. “Last week was nice to play three matches, get some match hours in the legs. It’s very much just go out there and do my best.”
“Any Grand Slam you come to there’s always that big build up and nice feeling before the tournament. This one particularly I’ve had a decent record at.
“In juniors I had some good results and in the last two years I’ve won matches here.. I like the conditions, the courts, the way they play, the speed and how they benefit my game.”
