Australian Open: Kyle Edmund feeling benefits of Miami training with Andy Murray

Kyle Edmund feels his winter training workload has put him in the shape to cope with the searing heat at the Australian Open.
Kyle Edmund has reached the Australian Open second round for a first time (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)Kyle Edmund has reached the Australian Open second round for a first time (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
Kyle Edmund has reached the Australian Open second round for a first time (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Twelve months ago, Edmund wilted in the heat in Melbourne and was crippled by cramp in a five-set defeat to little-known Bosnian Damir Dzumhur.

But his opening round encounter against Colombian Santiago Giraldo was a different story and he outclassed his opponent to win 6-2 7-5 6-3 inside two hours.

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Spain’s Pablo Carrena Busta now awaits in the second round and a show-court meeting with defending champion Novak Djokovic is the likely outcome for the winner.

Collision course: Edmund could meet Serbia's Novak Djokovic in round three (Photo: AP)Collision course: Edmund could meet Serbia's Novak Djokovic in round three (Photo: AP)
Collision course: Edmund could meet Serbia's Novak Djokovic in round three (Photo: AP)

Edmund will be fancied to set up a third meeting against the Serb when facing the 30th seed- a clay-court specialist who was handed victory in the fifth set by the retirement of world No 132 Peter Polansky.

Busta beat Edmund comfortably when they met at a Futures event in Spain three years ago but the Briton has improved immeasurably since then.

An example of such improvement was evident against 29-year-old Giraldo.

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It was a baseline battle and neither player appeared keen to shorten the rallies on Court Five, with only seven of the contest’s 163 points won at the net.

Collision course: Edmund could meet Serbia's Novak Djokovic in round three (Photo: AP)Collision course: Edmund could meet Serbia's Novak Djokovic in round three (Photo: AP)
Collision course: Edmund could meet Serbia's Novak Djokovic in round three (Photo: AP)

Edmund was too consistent for Giraldo, who could not cope with Edmund’s powerful forehand.

The Yorkshireman stormed into an early 3-0 lead and despite an exchange of breaks at the end of the set, broke a third time to move one set clear.

Giraldo cranked up the pressure at 3-3 in the second as he led 0-30 on Edmund’s serve, but two forehands helped the Briton to hold.

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He never looked back, breaking decisively himself at 6-5 when Giraldo shanked a backhand wide.

And when his opponent mangled a racket at the start of the final set, the game appeared to be up.

Edmund broke again, for the fifth time in the match at 4-3, before serving out to love.

Edmund, who had fallen at the first hurdle on his previous two visits to Melbourne, said concerns over his fitness were hopefully a thing of the past.

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“I’ve worked on it and touch wood I’ve managed to get better and feel like I can come through matches better,” the world No 46 said.

“I didn’t see it being a problem today. Of course if you have long, long matches, you can be fit but it (the heat) can maybe give you some issues if you’re going four, five hour matches, especially on a day like today.

“But I thought I managed myself well. It was only an hour and 50 match but still hot. I felt as I though I would.”

Edmund has spent the winter training alongside Andy Murray in Miami and said the work off the court will help the sweat on it.

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“If you’re not practising three hours or four hours at high intensity you can’t just expect to go on court and magically be able to do it,” he added.

“It doesn’t just happen in matches because it’s a match. You have to be able to do it consistently on the practice court.

“It is just about doing the hours on court, at the right level – there’s no point doing it at 50 percent of what you normally play at.

“I feel it’s really important to build up a real base, the bigger base you can get I think is going to help you towards the end of your career and the longer your career goes on. The guys in their late 20s, early 30s, they’re not building stamina or strength, it’s maintaining what they built from a young age.

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“The reason the top guys can go on so long is because they built a real base.”

Djokovic made an impressive start to his bid for a seventh title in Melbourne with a straight sets success over Fernando Verdasco, who had match points against the Serb in Doha earlier this month.

The second seed had fewer concerns this time around as he won 6-1 7-6 (7/4) 6-2.

“It was good that I got to have the very tough first-round match,” Djokovic said.

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“It made me prepare better and kind of approach this match and the tournament with the right intensity, right out from the blocks, right from the first point.”

Rafael Nadal secured his place in the second round with a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win over German Florian Mayer, and now faces Cypriot showman Marcos Baghdatis.

Murray continues his bid for a first Australian Open title this morning against former French Open junior champion Andrey Rublev inside the Rod Laver Arena. Murray won his only previous meeting against the 19-year-old Russian, who has only won 12 of his 19 matches on the ATP Tour since turning professional in 2014.

British No 3 Dan Evans plays seventh seed Marin Cilic in the final match on court three.

Roger Federer continues his return from injury against American Noah Rubin in the third match of the afternoon session on Rod Laver.