As Kyle Edmund made his way along the “walk of champions” towards the Rod Laver Arena, past boards with the name of every player who has won the Australian Open in the past 50 years, he could feel the butterflies building in his stomach. For those who have never made this entrance before on to the main show court at Melbourne Park, it can be an unsettling experience.
We wondered how Edmund would react to the extra pressure, which not only came from this long walk but also from the prospect of playing a first grand-slam quarter-final. We waited no more than ten minutes for an answer. Breaking the Grigor Dimitrov serve in the opening game set the tone as the 23-year-old became the sixth British man to reach the semi-finals of a grand-slam tournament in the open era.
Ask the many expert observers in and around the locker room for what they see that is different in Edmund, and the same response comes up: belief. Often in the past, he would crumble in sight of the finish line and fail to close out matches that really should have been his. Now, he is embracing the moment, the challenge and the nerves that come with it.
“It’s totally normal to feel nervous,” Edmund said. “As an emotion, as a human being, it’s normal. I just accepted that and had things in place to basically deal with it.
“It’s not like I walked on court being nervous for the first time in my life. You still go on there and play your game. Today I just really did well at that. I’m aware of the occasion, but really tried to focus on my tennis, enjoy it as much as possible. It was a great feeling out there.”
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Edmund may have started the year well by reaching the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International, but he suffered a significant setback by rolling his right ankle towards the end of a defeat in three sets by Dimitrov. At that point, we wondered if Edmund would even make it to the start line at the Australian Open, never mind the last four. No one saw this coming.
The statistics tell the story: this is the first time that Edmund has won five straight matches on the tour; defeating Dimitrov is his first win against a top-ten player; and he is one win away from replacing Andy Murray as the British No 1. That last fact still seems somewhat unbelievable, but it was inevitable at some point given Murray’s long absence.
Edmund dreamt of such moments in his younger years, but there are many more ambitions to fulfil.
“You dream lots of things,” Edmund said. “It’s all a dream. But until it becomes a reality, then it really hits you.
“You dream of playing in grand-slams, first of all. Hitting with the top guys. I remember being a practice partner for Andy, Rafa [Nadal] and Roger [Federer] to warm them up, then suddenly you’re playing these guys. It’s a bit surreal, then you take it in your stride. That competitive instinct comes in. You want to beat them.
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“A dream was to play for my country. I’ve done that. But, of course, the big one is to be in grand-slam finals. Obviously a dream is to win them, but when you’re serious about it, you really don’t think about it like that. You think about the process to get there.”
The process has taken Edmund to within one win of a grand-slam final, and two of a title, and his much-improved fitness has proved key for him so far this fortnight.
There used to be doubts over his physical conditioning and whether he could last a five-set match, but no longer after coming through two of them here, one of which was in 40C heat. The 80-metre track sprints that he performs under his fitness trainer, Ian Prangley, are paying off.
Yesterday’s match was further vindication of this. Edmund’s fitness held up well throughout. He looked fast from the off, claiming a break in the first game, although he was disappointed to hand it back with two consecutive wide forehands as Dimitrov levelled for 3-3.
The Edmund forehand was at its best when he hit a ferocious return winner down the line to break for 5-4. His serve, which he made significant improvements to during the off-season, was also firing and it helped him save three break points before closing out the set.
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The second set was one to forget, with a combined total of 24 unforced errors. Edmund struggled to cope with the constant slice off the Dimitrov backhand and one break of serve was enough for the Bulgarian to level the match at one set all.
After ending last season by winning the ATP Finals in London, Dimitrov has not carried that form forward to this year. His serve was shaky in the third set and a double fault on break point down gave Edmund a 5-3 lead. An unreturnable serve took the Briton to within one set of the last four.
Edmund edged closer by breaking for 3-2 as Dimitrov’s ropey backhand produced yet another wayward shot. Edmund could not hold his now customary composure in the next game, and hit a forehand wide to hand the break straight back.
There was some confusion at 4-4, Dimitrov hitting a backhand down the line, which the Hawk-Eye challenge system called in, before changing its decision after pausing for a few seconds. The new call of out gave Edmund two break points, and he converted the second.
Serving for his greatest victory at 5-4, Edmund produced an ace to set up match point and he could start celebrating after Hawk-Eye again got involved, this time without error, to confirm that Dimitrov’s backhand slice had floated long.
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Rafael Nadal’s retirement through injury in the fifth set of his quarter-final confirmed that Edmund’s semi-final opponent is Marin Cilic, who has observed the Briton’s exploits with interest.
“Kyle has had an amazing run here,” Cilic said. “A lot of tough matches. He has played great tennis. He’s also very entertaining to watch, big hitter, great serve, great forehand. He plays great on the hard courts.”
