Ed White: Kyle Edmund must now confront pain barrier to head young pretenders

British tennis has had something of its own generation game over the past 30 years '“ an inability to produce a breadth of talent to pack the draws on the men's and women's tours.
Yorkshire's Kyle Edmund.Yorkshire's Kyle Edmund.
Yorkshire's Kyle Edmund.

It is as if the baying public have requested having only a minimal number of players to support so the renaming process of Henman Hill/Murray Mount does not become too convoluted.

But after years of frustration, the prospects of widespread success are finally surfacing. In May, for the first time in 37 years, there were four British men in the world’s top 100 and a further three on the women’s side.

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Beverley’s Kyle Edmund is personifying the strides forward in developing the best young talent into the senior ranks and is certainly the nation’s best hope of following Andy Murray to the latter depths of Grand Slam tournaments.

If his recent run at the US Open is anything to go by, we could even have a White Rose Grand Slam winner to celebrate in the next decade.

That hot streak to the fourth round has put Edmund within sight of the seeded class on the ATP Tour.

Such a performance was astounding but should have come as no surprise. Flushing Meadows had already been a favourite place for Edmund, having reached the semi-finals of the boys’ competition in 2011 and teaming up with Portugal’s Frederico Ferreira Silva there to win the first of two junior grand slam doubles titles one year later.

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Since those junior days, Edmund’s climb up the rankings has been quite metronomic.

However, he may look back to this time 12 months ago, as the true turning point to joining the world’s elite.

On October 5, 2015, Edmund was dumped out of a minor Challenger tournament in Sacremento by the then world No 261 Darian King, of Barbados.

The three sets defeat came a week after a hugely disappointing loss to British counterpart Brydan Klein 6-4 6-1, leaving Edmund to lick wounds and outsiders to question if his career was stalling like so many British hopes of the past.

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But in the space of 30 days, with the season drawing to a close, Edmund turned his fortunes full circle and a return to the clay courts bore fruit in Buenos Aires.

A $7,200 prize was banked after winning his first Challenger Series title but the bigger prize of an 11-place jump in the rankings put him back into the world’s top 100.

It was a win that put captain Leon Smith’s faith into him for the opening rubber of the historic Davis Cup final and laid the foundations to a stellar 2016.

That rise into the top 100 has allowed Edmund to launch his vicious forehand against top 32 players on a regular basis. How he has taken his opportunity.

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It is quite clear to see why Edmund is reaching levels fellow Brits James Ward, Jamie Baker, and Alex Bogdanovic have failed to do in the past.

Edmund’s forehand is a dominant weapon and is already as powerful and direct as the game’s best. Arguably, it is the type of forehand Murray has been short of in his quest to dislodge Djokovic as world No 1 in recent years.

With his prize asset, Edmund is able to take the initiative in the rally and when his range is found deep into the corners, it is an unstoppable force, much akin to the flat slap of Juan Martin Del Potro.

As a weapon alone, Edmund’s forehand has the making of a top 20 player, possibly even top 10.

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But, like Del Potro – although in different circumstances to the Argentinian’s horror spell with injuries – Edmund’s tame and often error-strewn backhand is a cause for concern as to whether he could reach the dizzy heights of Murray.

It is clear, though, that Edmund’s victories over Richard Gasquet and John Isner on the way to meeting Novak Djokovic in the fourth round have raised eyebrows with his peers.

Indeed, US Open champion Stan Wawrinka admitted Edmund’s stock had risen after knocking him out of the Shanghai Masters last week. The Yorkshireman is now a dangerous man in any draw.

Now his game is being brought to light by his scintillating results, his peers will pinpoint any potential weak points more.

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His progression up the rankings may well depend on the work put in away from the court over the next two months.

To continue to follow the path of Murray, a consistency of performance amid the mental challenges of two or three-hour long matches must be developed.

Like the Scot, cramp has been an issue in Edmund’s young career but he must use his compatriot’s example and copy the painstaking months of graft improving fitness levels in the out of season month ahead.

His talent has surfaced, now is the spell to turn world-beating sparks into a consistent potency around the court.

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With the much-affirmed ‘big four’ nearing a downturn, an opportunity will open for Edmund and fellow young pretenders Jiri Vesely, Borna Coric,Nick Kyrgious and Dominic Thiem as tennis’s next generation.

But for them to reach such levels in such an attritional era of tennis, the winter pain barrier must be encountered and hurdled.