Kyle Edmund

Kyle Steven Edmund (born 8 January 1995) is a British former professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14 and was the top-ranked male British tennis player from March 2018 to October 2019.

Edmund is an Australian Open semifinalist, and only the sixth British man to play in a major singles semifinal in the Open Era. He won his maiden ATP Tour title at Antwerp in October 2018. Edmund made his Davis Cup debut in the 2015 final, against Belgium, with Great Britain winning the tournament for the first time in 79 years. The Davis Cup team won the 2015 BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award.

He has won two junior Grand Slam doubles titles, at the 2012 US Open and the 2013 French Open, both with partner Frederico Ferreira Silva. Edmund was part of the Great Britain team that won the Junior Davis Cup for the first time in 2011.

Early and personal life

Edmund was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. His father, Steven, was born in Wales but was raised in Zimbabwe and lived in South Africa. His mother, Denise (née Vosloo) was from South Africa. He moved to Britain when he was three and grew up in the village of Tickton near Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire. Steven is a director of a renewable energy company. His parents invested tens of thousands into their son's tennis until the LTA provided funding through Aegon that took care of travel and coaching.

Initially cricket and swimming were his main childhood pursuits, but he switched to tennis at 10 after lessons at the David Lloyd Racquet and Fitness Club in Hull with coach Richard Plews. He was educated at Pocklington School and Beverley Grammar School and by the age of 13 moved to Cannons in Hull to train with John Black. At 14, he moved with John Black to train at Win Tennis, based at the National Sports Centre at Bisham Abbey, Berkshire. When he was nearly 17, he based himself at the Lawn Tennis Association's National Training Centre in Roehampton to be coached by Colin Beecher, returning to see his family at weekends.

In December 2017, Edmund moved his official residence from the UK to Nassau, Bahamas to maximise his off-season preparation in a warmer climate, and to have a closer base to the US, though his move has been criticised as being financially opportunistic and motivated by tax.

Kyle Edmund is sometimes referred to as "Kedders".

He is also a football fan and supports Liverpool F.C.

Junior career

2011–2013: Two junior Grand Slam doubles titles

Edmund made his first breakthrough on the Junior circuit in 2011, when he reached the semifinals of the US Open boys' singles event, where he was defeated by top seed and eventual runner-up Jiří Veselý of the Czech Republic.

Playing in the Great Britain Under 16 boys team, with Evan Hoyt and Luke Bambridge, they won the European Summer Cup defeating Italy in the final.

Great Britain won the Junior Davis Cup tournament for the first time after beating Italy in the final in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Coached by Greg Rusedski, the team of Edmund, Evan Hoyt and Luke Bambridge justified their top seeding in the event.

The following year he won his first junior Grand Slam title, at the boys' doubles event of the US Open, partnered by Portuguese player Frederico Ferreira Silva. The two defeated Australian duo Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson in the final, after losing the first set. Edmund reached a career high of No. 8 in the combined ITF junior rankings in January 2012, reaching at least the quarterfinals of all four junior slams in singles.

At the French Open, Edmund and Silva won their second Grand Slam title, defeating Chilean pair Cristian Garín and Nicolás Jarry in the final.

Senior career

2010–2014: Joining the tour, turning pro, first steps

Edmund began on the ITF Futures circuit in April 2010 at the Great Britain F5 in Bournemouth, losing the first qualifier match. It was a full year before Edmund played another Futures, again at the Great Britain F5 in Bournemouth, this time as a wild card in the main draw, but was beaten in the first round by Nicolas Rosenzweig.

After playing 18 Futures events, in October Edmund won his first tournament in Birmingham, Alabama, US.

Edmund played in his first ATP tour match in June when he was awarded a Wildcard for the annual Queen's Club tournament in London, losing to Slovenian Grega Žemlja, but that didn't dent his confidence as he then won his first senior match at the Aegon International in Eastbourne. Following a wildcard entrance into the tournament, he defeated the world No. 82 Kenny de Schepper, ranked 360 places above him, in straight sets. In June 2013, Edmund defeated world No. 17 Gilles Simon in tie-breaks.

At Wimbledon, his first senior appearance at a Grand Slam tournament, he entered five separate tournaments, receiving wildcards into the men's singles and doubles due to his junior success. In the men's singles, he lost in the first round to 24th seed Jerzy Janowicz in straight sets. In the men's doubles, he partnered Jamie Baker, losing in the first round to David Marrero and Andreas Seppi in straight sets. In the mixed doubles, he partnered fellow teenager Eugenie Bouchard, losing again in the first round to Frederik Nielsen and Sofia Arvidsson, again in straight sets.

In December, Andy Murray invited Edmund, James Ward and Ross Hutchins to his training camp in Miami.

In January, Edmund received his first call-up to the Great Britain Davis Cup team for their World Group tie against the US, and was part of the initial nominations before being replaced by doubles specialist Dominic Inglot, meaning he was the first reserve singles player.

In April it was announced that former British player, Greg Rusedski, had assumed the role of Edmund's full-time coach.

After less than six months, Edmund dispensed with Greg Rusedski following a recent slump in form. Edmund lost five consecutive first rounds and is believed to have concluded that Rusedski's other commitments would prevent him from putting in the necessary time at this key stage of his development. Edmund opted to concentrate on working with his other coach, James Trotman.

In November, Edmund reached his first final at the Yokohama Challenger, thanks to back-to-back victories over higher-ranked players. However, Australian John Millman proved too strong in the final, winning in straight sets. Consequently, Edmund broke into the top 200.

In December, Edmund and James Ward again stayed with Andy Murray at his training camp in Miami for two and a half weeks.

2015–2017: Davis Cup Champion, top 50

Edmund began the 2015 season at the qualifying tournament of the Australian Open. He defeated Tristan Lamasine from France and Austin Krajicek of the US to reach the final round of qualifying, where he faced Australian wildcard Dane Propoggia. He defeated Propoggia in three close sets to qualify for the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, and make his first appearance at a major tournament besides Wimbledon. In the first round of the main competition Edmund faced Steve Johnson, but lost to the American in straight sets.

He came back from the defeat well the following week, making it to the final of the Hong Kong Challenger, and defeating world No. 94 Tatsuma Ito of Japan in a dominant display to claim his first ever Challenger Tour title without dropping a set. As a result of both his Australian Open qualifying campaign and his title in Hong Kong, Edmund broke into the world's top 150 for the first time, reaching 148th in the world. The following week, Edmund reached the quarterfinals of the Burnie International, after defeating Chung Hyeon. Throughout the spring Edmund continued to rise up the rankings, achieving a career high of world No. 121 in the world on 18 May due to his success in Challenger level events.

Following three rounds of qualifying, Edmund made it to the main draw of the French Open for the first time in his career. In the first round he faced Frenchman Stéphane Robert, and recorded his first ever Grand Slam level victory, as well as his first ever five-set match win. He was due to face Nick Kyrgios in the second round, but was forced to withdraw with a stomach injury, which it was feared could make him miss the entire grass court season if exacerbated. Following his first round win, Edmund reached a career high ranking of 101. After receiving a wildcard for Wimbledon, Edmund was beaten in the first round in straight sets by Alexandr Dolgopolov.

In July, Edmund won the Binghamton Challenger, completing the final in 66 minutes, ten years after Andy Murray won the same title.

Edmund was announced for the Great Britain squad for the Davis Cup Semi-final against Australia. However, he picked up an ankle injury on the Tuesday before the tie and was dropped.

Edmund reacted to a disappointing autumn by parting company with his coach James Trotman, just five weeks ahead of the Davis Cup final.