Just one day after his 25th birthday, Kyle Edmund announced that he would miss the first major event of the season in Melbourne with a bad left knee. The Briton was a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2018, working his way to 36 wins that season and his first ATP title in Antwerp.
Kyle entered the top 20 for the first time in May after the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, improving his position in the final stages of the season to place in the top 15. The youngster lost to Fernando Verdasco in Vienna, and that was his last game of the decisive year, and he withdrew from Paris with a left knee injury to end his season.
Returning to Brisbane in early 2019, Edmund suffered an early defeat and decided to skip the Sydney International and rest his knee before the Australian Open. Defending 720 points in Melbourne, the Briton lost in the first round to Tomas Berdych in straight sets, leaving the top 20 and retiring from Rotterdam and Marseille.
Returning to the strong Indian Wells Challenger, Kyle defeated Andrey Rublev in the title match to win the title, taking that form to Indian Wells and Miami and losing in the fourth round to Roger Federer and John Isner.
In the following months, Edmund was a semi-finalist in Eastbourne and a quarter-finalist in Washington along with many early starts. He lost eight matches in a row and found his form right at the end of the season in Paris and the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid, expecting more of the same in 2020.
Barely ranked in the top-70, Kyle started the previous season with three losses in the first five games, eager to change that at the New York Open.
Kyle Edmund struggles with a left knee injury
The Briton defeated five rivals outside the top 50 to lift his second ATP title and his first since October 2018, feeling good again on the pitch ahead of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Briton gave his best against Novak Djokovic at the US Open in the second round, challenging the powerful opponent in a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 loss in three hours and 13 minutes. The Johannesburg native couldn’t avoid knee pain at the end of the season, retiring from Hamburg and Roland Garros and ending the year with five consecutive losses – three against opponents from outside the top 90!
Kyle was back on the practice court and in the gym before the new season, but doesn’t feel like he would play well in Melbourne and endure best-of-five matches. “Unfortunately my knee is not ready to compete on the next Australian tour. I hope to be racing again soon,” said Kyle Edmund.
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