Kyle Edmund happy to be back at Australian Open five years after run to semi-final

Murray’s injury-precipitated decline had begun and the rise of Edmund reached a new crescendo with a thrilling run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

The 23-year-old from Tickton had shown earlier promise, but nothing like the fireworks he produced in 2018 at Melbourne Park.

His booming forehand accounted for Kevin Anderson – who was in between final appearances at the US Open and Wimbledon – and Grigor Dimitrov, winner of the ATP Tour finals two months earlier and the world No 3, in a nerveless quarter-final win.

Marin Cilic ended the dream at the semi-final stage but Edmund had arrived, was up inside the top 20 in the rankings and the tennis world was at his feet.

“When I think back to 2018 it’s always good memories, walking around the grounds, or in the player area, or on the court,” he said yesterday ahead of the start of his Australian Open campaign on Monday.

“But it just feels so long ago because so much has happened since then.”

Indeed it has, and sadly for Edmund, not enough on the tennis court.

For Edmund has suffered chronic knee problems since the middle of that 2018 season, and is still on the road to recovery.

In fact, this is his first trip to Melbourne Park for three years, after he missed most of the last two seasons because of the problems in his left knee that required three operations.

His ranking is now way down at 583, a far cry from those heady days of 2018.

He is in the draw because he has a medical protection to his ranking, but is match rusty and has drawn Jannik Sinner, the Italian 21-year-old who is seeded 15 and reached the quarter-final last year, as he did at Wimbledon and the US Open.

Now 28, Edmund hopes to one day get back to similar heights.

Yet his ambitions this time are much more modest, with the Yorkshireman grateful simply to be back on court and feeling healthy enough to compete.

“I know I have the game to play at the highest level and hopefully the work I’ve done in my rehab and strength will allow me to stay fit to be able to compete,” he said.

Of the knee issue, he added: “It’s something I’m always going to have to manage.

"But having the time out was really long so to be able to play again is something I’m very thankful for.”

Edmund dipped his toe back in the water last summer, playing mixed doubles at Wimbledon in what was his first match since October 2020.

He then entering five events in North America, including the US Open, before stepping away again to do more training.

“I was able to play but not really at the standard or physically the level I wanted to,” he says of his truncated 2022 campaign. Edmund returned to the tour last week, playing the two ATP events in Adelaide, and, although he lost in the first round both times, he pushed 28th-ranked Miomir Kecmanovic in two close sets in the second one.

The first saw him lose 6-3 6-2 to Sinner, who he will lock horns with again in the first round on Monday.

“When you haven’t played a lot of tennis, you’re always searching for rhythm,” said Edmund.

“In the end, I felt the (Sinner) match just went really quickly and was over before I knew it, but the second one was a lot better.

“Being here has allowed me to practice with the best guys in the rankings. It’s a good leveller to see where I’m at.

"Just putting myself out there is all sort of money in the bank. I know I can play well on these courts because I have before.”

Sinner represents a very tough opener but, while he is of course chasing victories, Edmund will settle for just feeling like he is heading in the right direction.

“I feel like if I played someone who was (ranked) 90 or 80, or a qualifier that was at the lower end, is a tough match for me right now because I don’t have loads of wins,” he said.

“You’re like ‘Oh, I want to get back now and I want to play better now’. But I know inside it does take time.

"To get to where I was before, it took years of training and experience in matches. So, when you go right down, you don’t just suddenly get it back again.

“That time away taught me a lot. Now that I didn't have it, you just take things a lot more less for granted.

"Not that I was - I wouldn't say I'm a person that took everything for granted and was arrogant in that way, but just realised what I did have.”

On his prospects for the long term, Edmund said during Wimbledon last year: "I'll play as long as I can really.

"I've just got to enjoy as much as I can, because I felt like it was taken away from me in some way, and now I feel like I've got a bit more control of it and got a bit more of a grasp on it.”

He might not be able to produce the fireworks of five years ago, but it’s just good to see Kyle Edmund back competing in Melbourne.