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Kyle Edmund through to first Grand Slam third round

Jake Davies
Tennis

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By Jake Davies

  • Kyle Edmund defeats Ernesto Escobedo 7-5 6-4 6-4
  • A giant challenge awaits in the shape of John Isner in the third round.
NEW YORK, USA – Kyle Edmund came through a tight match with American wildcard Ernest Escobedo to earn a match-up with John Isner in his first Grand Slam third round.

 

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Kyle Edmund defeats Ernesto Escobedo 7-5 6-4 6-4

Great Britain’s Edmund won back-to-back matches for the very first time by backing up his upset win over Richard Gasquet, with another victory against Escobedo. With this win, Edmund earns his spot in the third round of a grand slam and has made light work of his opponents thus far.

It was a completely different scenario to be thrown into for the rising British player. In his previous match against Gasquet, many expected Edmund to make a good account of himself, but anticipated Gasquet to progress – Edmund had other ideas.

In this match against Escobedo, Edmund had to tackle the additional expectation after not only beating a Top 15 player, but also being the substantially higher ranked player in his second round match.

A contributing factor to Edmund’s comfortable win against Escobedo was his ability to strike first in a battle of commanding the baseline. Edmund’s game is built around a good serve that sets up a devastating forehand. The Brit served impeccably today and that gave him the license to play to his strengths when winning many points off his first and second serves.

Edmund has not used up a great deal of energy in order to get to the third round, which puts him in a fantastic position for his third round match on Friday.

 

Kyle Edmund vs John Isner [20]

Edmund’s third round opponent is the imposing figure of Isner. The American holds a 1-0 head-to-head advantage over Edmund, with the one win coming at the French Open earlier this year.

The biggest strength of Isner’s is his serve. One of the most feared serves in the men’s game, and if a player gets broken by Isner, it can be extremely difficult to have a look at a way back into that particular set.

The American hard courts play into Isner’s strengths quite a lot. They allow the ball to zip through the court much greater than a clay court, where the ball sit up more often on the clay. Edmund’s intentions are pretty simple in this particular match up. He has to hit aggressively to safe targets in order to expose the mobility of the bigger player.

Edmund, who would break the Top 60 for the first time with a win, will have to take advantage of the fact that Isner has played a lot of tennis this week already. Isner had to come back from two sets to down to beat 18 year old Frances Tiafoe, and he also played a long match against Steve Darcis in the second round.

One of many reasons why Isner has not been a regular feature in the second week of a Grand Slam is because of his return of serve, and how difficult he finds it to beat his opponents comfortably in the first few rounds. In previous grand slams it has cost him in the latter rounds as he just has nothing left to give on that given day.

This will be a much closer match than the meeting in Roland Garros as Edmund has improved immensely, but Isner should still be a tall order for the Brit on Friday.

Prediction: Isner in four sets.

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