Kyle Edmund became the second Brit to book a spot in the second round of the US Open but he faces the toughest opponent in the draw next.
Edmund defeated Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 2-6 7-5 7-5 6-0 to set up a tie with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic – who cruised past Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-4 6-1.
Few will look beyond Djokovic – who has won all 24 of his matches in 2020 – regardless of who is stood on the other side of the net.
But Edmund has inflicted defeat on the top seed in the past and boasts significant weapons, namely a booming serve and thumping forehand, that could cause Djokovic some problems.
‘I have beaten him, I have that experience but he’s also beaten me a bunch of times,’ Edmund told Amazon Prime.
‘He’s a top player, the type of player that’s tough to break down. You can’t just hit through him, you have to expect to fight for it. It’s a match for me that I’ve got nothing to lose.’
Edmund put in a mature display to put Bublik to the sword.
Bublik was at his unplayable, explosive best in the first set, however, consistency has never been his strong suit and once Edmund had weathered the storm there was only going to be one winner.
‘He’s unpredictable,’ Edmund said after the match. ‘I expected a few more underhand serves. He only did the one and he completely did me.
‘The first set was just – it could only get better really. There wasn’t anything I did right to be honest and I was annoyed at myself. I need to force to get myself to get going.
‘The scoreline showed how the match went, I dug deep got some tough points and towards the end of the match started to play some good tennis and ran away with it a bit.’
Djokovic was equally brilliant for large parts of his match against Dzumhur.
However, after moving a set-and-a-break up, there was a bit of a dip in form from the 17-time Grand Slam champion as Dzumhur raised his level.
It didn’t last long, with Djokovic running away with the decider.
‘I thought I started very well then things got complicated,’ said Djokovic.
‘I lost my focus and he started missing less. He gets a lot of balls back. He played some really good shots. It was anybody’s game really midway through the second set.’
Djokovic struggled with neck pain during his run to the Western & Southern Open title last week but he insists he is physically back on track.
‘I feel fine,’ he added. ‘I struggled a bit in the semis and finals back-to-back but had enough time to recover. I felt good on the court today.
‘The good thing about a Slam is you play every two days, so one day of rest and recovery. I’ll try to use that the best I can and gather all my energy and strength for the next one.’
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