Kyle Edmund: From Beverley Tennis Club to the Australian Open semi-finals

With Andy Murray absent from Melbourne, the Australian Open has been very much Kyle Edmund's stage.
Kyle Edmund celebrates beating Andreas SeppiKyle Edmund celebrates beating Andreas Seppi
Kyle Edmund celebrates beating Andreas Seppi

The British number two confirmed his spot in his first Grand Slam quarter-final with a four-set victory over Andreas Seppi in the early hours of the morning and followed it up by beating third seed Grigor Dimitrov. His semi-final opponent will be Marin Cilic after Rafael Nadal retired.

Yet the 23-year-old is also ranked as Yorkshire number one.

Kyle was born in South Africa, but moved to the UK as a three-year-old with his parents, who settled in the peaceful village of Tickton, near Beverley. He was a keen cricketer as a child, and did not begin to play tennis until the age of 10, when he started hitting at Beverley and East Riding Lawn Tennis Club.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He later moved to the David Lloyd Rackets and Fitness Centre in nearby Hull, where coach Richard Plews was so impressed with his potential that he offered him lessons.

As a junior, Kyle would travel to the John Charles Centre for Sport in south Leeds to play in tournaments against the best youngsters from the region on the facility's indoor courts.

He attended the independent Pocklington School and began his secondary education at state-funded Beverley Grammar, but by the age of 13 had been offered a place at a tennis academy at Bisham Abbey in Buckinghamshire, and by 17 had moved to the LTA's National Training Centre in Roehampton.

He still returns to hit at Beverley LTC, although he has recently purchased a property in the Bahamas to use as a warm-weather training base.

Kyle was part of the GB squad that won the Davis Cup in 2015, and in 2017 he reached the third round of the US and French Opens and the second round of the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Related topics: