THERE is a time in every top player’s career when he – and everyone else – realises that he might just have what it takes.
Yesterday, it was the turn of the 21-year-old Kyle Edmund, whose brilliant performance in winning the first of the reverse singles against Serbia sent Britain through to the semi-finals of the Davis Cup.
Having stunned everyone to win the trophy last September, with Murray to the fore, Britain are in the last four again and this time, Murray has help.
Having sat out the tie to rest after the exhaustion that followed his Wimbledon victory, Murray spent the weekend in Belgrade watching Edmund turn from a promising player into a proven performer.
His 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Dusan Lajovic, who was playing at No.1 for Serbia in the absence of world No.1 Novak Djokovic, sealed a 3-1 victory for Leon Smith’s side.
Without Murray and with an out-of-form James Ward standing-in at No.2, this was a 50-50 tie, one that relied on Edmund winning both singles and Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot doing their bit in the doubles.
But it was the manner of Edmund’s win that was most impressive of all.
At 21, Edmund has been talked up for a while now, with Murray himself describing him, just last month, as the future of British tennis.
But yesterday, against an opponent playing at home, on his favourite surface, Edmund played flawlessly, pounding his forehand until Lajovic’s defences simply gave out.
His opening-day win over an ill Janko Tipsarevic was his first Davis Cup singles victory but that which took him past Lajovic was an example of just how good he might become.
“I am so happy to have won this one for the team," said Edmund, in a matter-of-fact manner that belied the power of his display. "It was very emotional to win today knowing what was on the line and at stake.
“This was huge. On Friday I won my first match for my country and this is the second. I thought my level these past three days was good, I’m just really happy I won.”
Smith could hardly contain his delight at Edmund’s display.
“We needed Kyle to step up this weekend and boy has he done that,” captain Leon Smith said. It’s been absolutely fantastic. We saw what he is capable of. To come out and win two best of five sets over three days is testament to the work he’s been doing.
“These moments are big because you don’t really play under this intensity, best of five. This will give him huge confidence. He’s got a huge forehand; it’s going to be talked about a lot. He’s building well, he’s only 21 and he’s going to get a lot stronger over the next few years.”
For the first two sets, Edmund dominated Lajovic, ranked 14 places behind Edmund at No.81, but the Serb fought well and the third set was nip and tuck.
Pummelling forehands time and time again, Edmund broke for 4-3 but when he served for the match at 5-4, he was broken.
However, having held serve well to take the set into a tiebreak, he trailed 4-2 before coming back to take it 7-5 and send the travelling British support into a frenzy.
Having won the trophy once, anyone who wondered what Davis Cup means to Britain would have been left in no doubt as Edmund was mobbed by the entire squad, including Andy Murray, who appeared to shout “f*****g awesome” into his team-mate’s ear.
Murray is now set to return when Britain play Argentina, at home, in the semi-finals in September.
“They [Argentina] have a lot of strength in depth, a lot of Davis Cup pedigree, so it’ll be extremely difficult, with [Juan Martin] Del Potro coming back,” Smith said. “But, hopefully, we’ll have Andy back in the team and that strengthens us massively.”
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