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WIMBLEDONJune 23, 2014Kyle EdmundLONDON, ENGLAND A. HAIDER‑MAURER/K. Edmund THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. How do you feel today went? KYLE EDMUND: It went okay. I mean, I got off to a good start and then struggled a bit till the end of the first set. I was pleased I got my game back in the second and managed to take it to a tiebreak. I thought it was unlucky to lose the second because I had quite a few breakpoints. He just managed to keep hitting big serves and played well on those points, which was unfortunate for me. To lose a tiebreak narrowly, it's just one of those things that happens. He played a good third set. Lots of experience to take from it. Lots of stuff to work on. But obviously the fact that I played Wimbledon, something to take from it as well. It's not all bad. Q. At this stage for you, is that as important as anything else, having the experience? KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, definitely. It's a good experience for me to play in that sort of environment with that crowd. It's also a nice feeling to play in that situation because we don't get to play in England that much, apart from four weeks of the year. When it comes round, it is nice to get some support. And obviously when you get that support, you want to do well because you're playing for yourself. But you sort of win and stuff for the crowd. But I gave it my best shot. You know, I'm 19, I played Wimbledon. Not many people can say that. I've got my friends over from South Africa, I got my family over. Going to have a nice meal with them tonight. It's a good thing that I'm playing these sort of events. Q. How important is the wild card situation to a player such as yourself, to be able to get the opportunity to play on this stage? Obviously the flipside of it is people are going to look at it as how the Brits have got on today and they're going to question it. KYLE EDMUND: The reality is the British people or the players are not highly ranked. We only have one person in the top 100. Everyone knows that. The cutoff I think for Grand Slams I think is 100. It means everyone we're going to play, they're expected to win. It's going to be a tough match. So that's why you see some early first rounds. Hence myself. All these matches are tough. I think Ward plays Youzhny, Evans played Kuznetsov. Cox played Chardy. These are all tough guys. It's more just the experience of playing. You know, all the attention gets focused on two weeks, how badly they did. All through the year, everyone has been playing futures and challengers. It's sort of one step up, isn't it? It's not like every week we get wildcards. It's just two weeks of the year. Q. Do you need that opportunity to be able to have an opportunity of taking the next steps, going further up the ladder? KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, I mean, the wildcards can be good for experience as well, but it can also be used as a steppingstone to break in because you don't get the opportunity. When you get the opportunity, it is points in the Grand Slams are so big, you can use it as a steppingstone or a breakthrough. I lost, so I can't say that. But if someone did make the fourth round or something, it's huge points which boosts their ranking up which helps them get into bigger tournaments throughout the year. Q. What would you say to people who say the wildcard system makes it too easy for British players? 'Pampered' is the word that's been used before. KYLE EDMUND: I think the cutoff is 250. I think it's always been like that. I think I was the only one that was exceeding that limit. The All England made a decision, which I'm grateful for, to let me play. I think if it's easy, why isn't everyone else playing to get in, so... Q. Effectively you have to have an opportunity because without opportunity you won't get better. It's 52 weeks of the year, a full season of entries into competitions without having to work for it? KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, like I said before, most of the guys are playing futures and challengers. It's just an opportunity. It's not the norm to play these events. So, yeah, a lot of the guys get expected to win because they're British and they're in Wimbledon. I don't think anyone that is expected to win, anyone on the day can beat anyone in the draw, that's the reality of men's tennis. To this day anyone that turns up on the game can win. Last year Federer lost to Stakhovsky, who wasn't expect to but he did, because he played well and maybe Federer wasn't quite on it. Stuff like that happens. Everyone you play you have to respect massively. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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