From British number one to the current world #75, Kyle Edmund stands at a crossroads in his tennis career. Often vaunted as the natural successor to Andy Murray as Britain’s next big hope, Edmund is still only 24 years old. But with Andy Murray returning to the singles scene and other players on the rise, Edmund appears to have entered a slump in the middle years of his career.
What can he do to return to form? What are the reasons for his drop-off in form? What, essentially, has happened to Kyle Edmund?
One of only six men to play in a major singles semi-final in his career, hard-hitting baseline bully Edmund has all the components of a top tennis career. Amazing strength and physical dexterity, stunning groundstrokes and a flair for shot-making that few others on the tour possess. But after ruling the domestic roost for a time – Edmund was even part of the 2015 David Cup-winning team that won the event for the first time in almost 80 years – things have gone awry.
Having been British number one from March last year to October this year, Edmund has, however, seen his ATP ranking drop from Top 20 when he beat Novak Djokovic to #75 in the world.
His Australian Open semi-final run in January 2018 remains the highlight of his career to date, with a signposting win over the defending champion at the time Grigor Dimitrov joined by victories over Kevin Anderson, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Andreas Seppi leading to an eventual heart-breaking semi-final defeat to Marin Cilic. That was the top of the first mountain in his career, but Edmund didn’t fall too far too soon. He won a doubles title in May of that year with Cameron Norrie, before that fateful victory over world number one Novak Djokovic that put Edmund into the Top 20.
Last week, at the Vienna Open, Kyle Edmund lost his eighth straight defeat, this time to the in-form Italian, Matteo Berrettini. Not only that, but he was a set up before unforced errors took the match away from him and gifted the Italian a way back into the clash.
The last time Edmund won, he won in some style against controversial Aussie Nick Kyrgios back in August in Montreal, Canada. It was also the last time Edmund tweeted one of his shots to his fans:
💪 @kyle8edmund was on 🔥 in Montreal!
How good was this winner from Kyle on his way to defeating Kyrgios?
📽️ @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/UJ2durN16u
— LTA (@the_LTA) August 7, 2019
Not only does Edmund’s run of poor form come at a bad time for him personally, but it could also affect Britain’s hopes in the Davis Cup. With Murray back to near his best, Edmund could find himself scrapping for the last place on the team with his old doubles comrade, Norrie. Should he lose that battle, just how would it impact his confidence moving forward in his career? It’s three months until the opening Grand Slam event of the 2020 season in Australia, and Edmund would face a huge winter to avoid a summer of discontent.
As always, the next game of tennis is the most important, and later today, Edmund takes on Ričardas Berankis, the highest ranked Lithuanian tennis player of all time, at the Paris Masters. With Berankis ranked five places higher than the Brit in the current ATP rankings, whether Edmund wins or not could indicate which direction he is likely to take at the crossroads he faces.
The ball is in Kyle Edmund’s court, but, just as in tennis itself, only he can dictate how he returns.
