Edmund's win over Murray counts for little at Eastbourne

The second seed and British No 1 looked on course for a last-four place at Eastbourne after taking the first set, but world No 90 Kukushkin battled back to win 5-7 6-3 6-1. Defeat for 23-year-old Edmund followed elimination for compatriot Cameron Norrie, who lost 6-3 6-4 to Lukas Lacko in yesterday’s opening match on Centre Court.

Edmund, who beat former world No 1 Murray in the second round on Wednesday, recovered from a break down to take the opening set by winning three successive games.

Kukushkin quickly quietened the home crowd though, securing an early break in the second set before Edmund finished with a double fault to send the match into a decider.

With the Wimbledon draw scheduled for this morning, Edmund’s hopes of going into the tournament with a trophy were soon extinguished.

He lost the opening three games of the final set and then took his frustration out on umpire Arnaud Gabas with a heated argument over a line call before Kukushkin completed an unexpected victory.

The Kazakh will face German Mischa Zverev in the semi-finals following his 6-3 6-3 win over third seed Denis Shapovalov.

Lacko – through to his first ATP Tour semi-final in more than six years after seeing off British No 2 Norrie – faces Marco Cecchinato next.

Italian Cecchinato, seeded fourth, recovered from a set down to win 5-7 6-3 6-2 against Australian John Millman.

In the women’s draw, defending champion Karolina Pliskova was a shock casualty after she surrendered a three-game lead in her deciding set with 20-year-old Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka to lose 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7/5).

Sabalenka’s reward for her surprise win against the second seed is a last-four meeting with 2008 champion Agnieszka Radwanska. The Pole, continuing her return from a back injury, prevented fifth seed Jelena Ostapenko reaching her first grass court semi-final with a 6-2 7-5 victory.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki, the 2009 champion and last year’s beaten finalist, will meet two-time grand slam winner Angelique Kerber in today’s other semi-final.

Australian Open champion Wozniacki, the world No 2, beat eighth seed Ashleigh Barty 6-4 6-3, and Kerber needed two hours and 10 minutes to overcome Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (7/3).

There will be an all-British encounter in today’s men’s doubles final after Ken and Neal Skupski set up a clash with Eastbourne newcomers Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara.

The Skupski brothers beat Americans Ryan Harrison and Nicholas Monroe 6-3 6-3 while Bambridge and O’Mara overcame Robert Lindstedt and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4 6-3.