Kyle Edmund’s gradual and steady rise up the ATP rankings has given British tennis fans plenty of hope that there is a future after Andy Murray.  However his run at this year's French Open came to a halt when he lost to John Isner 6-4 6-4 6-4 in the second round.  

The 21-year-old from Beverley is currently ranked at a career high of 82 in the world, and has broken into the luxurious position where he doesn’t have to go through the troublesome slog of Grand Slam qualification.

Edmund Defends Last Years Points

On Monday Edmund recorded his second ever main draw victory at a major when battled past Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili in four sets.

It was a result which means the British number three will defend the points which he acquired last year when he reached the second round, but was forced to pull out with a muscle injury which prevented him from taking to the court.

Isner A Step Up In Quality

A year later Edmund’s opening round victory earned him a lucrative clash with giant American John Isner, but as expected that proved to be a step to far for the Brit who went down 6-4 6-4 6-4 to the 15th seed.

John Isner in action (Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
John Isner in action (Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

A single break of serve in each set was enough for Isner, who will now face Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili in the third round.

If the American’s 6ft 10 frame wasn’t enough to show the size of the challenge that Edmund was facing, then a break of serve in the fifth game of the match showed the huge magnitude of the Brit’s task.

The 21-year-old battled hard but couldn’t capitalise on a 0-40 opportunity in the sixth game of the second set.

Despite the defeat there is no doubt that this was another step forward for Edmund, who reached the quarter-final of the ATP event in Doha at the start of the year before claiming his first victory at a Masters 1000 tournament in Miami.

Edmund will now look to improve his results during the grass court season, where he hope to claim his first main draw victory at his home grand slam at Wimbledon.

   

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About the author
Joseph Nicholson
Sports Journalism student at Sunderland University. Writer for the Championship and tennis offices.