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U.S. OPEN

September 2, 2016

Kyle Edmund

New York, NY, USA

K. EDMUND/J. Isner

6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Must be a challenge for you in some ways to keep your feet on the ground having such a great week and the prospect of playing Novak Djokovic.
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it's been a great week so far, absolutely. Tonight was a really good win. I was pleased with my consistency throughout the match. Weren't too many dips. On that stage, as well, in front of a good crowd, a big crowd, against John in his own country, I was pleased with the performance I put out there.

Yeah, very, very encouraging. Just happy I won at the minute, not much else. Just sort of taking it all in.

But, yeah, these are the situations you want to be in, what you dream about, reaching the fourth round of a slam now, getting the opportunity to play the world No. 1. Yeah, very positive.

Q. What was the difference between tonight and the French Open? You might have expected clay to favor you; quicker courts here to favor him.
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, probably learning from my last match definitely helped me. Yeah, I mean, I play well on clay, but he's also a top-20 player and he's a good player. He beat me straight sets in the French.

I think I just learnt from it. I feel good about myself at the minute. I knew going into the match I had a good chance, a good opportunity, but just the nature of the match was a very different match than the last two matches.

Yeah, you've got to be able to play well against all different styles of players. That's important. Today it was obviously about taking the chances when I had them, because they're not going to come frequently.

I think last match I had like 16 breakpoints. I knew I wasn't going to get that today. I had to be sharper when they came.

Yeah, it's nice from the last performance. It obviously shows I've improved my match play. That's obviously encouraging.

Q. What did you learn from the match against Novak in Miami? What did you do well there and what do you need to do better?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, he's obviously a great player. What everyone sees, how you play against him, he's tough to break down. Makes a lot of balls. You know, very quick around the court. He has lots of good abilities. He's world No. 1. He's good in all areas.

I feel I had some good success in that match. In the middle of the match I started taking it to him a bit more. That's my game. That's what I've been doing this tournament. I need to continue to do that.

What my game is is trying to be aggressive. It's going to be no different when I play him on Sunday. That's what's been working. No point in changing it.

I just look forward to the experience, to be honest. I'm sure we'll be on another nice court, like tonight. Being it's my first fourth round in a Grand Slam, I'll just embrace it, enjoy the moment, and obviously do my best, like tonight.

Q. What steps do you take to try to maintain your mental composure in a match like tonight where the crowd is behind John largely?
KYLE EDMUND: I don't know. You're just playing. It's a long match, so you can't be too up and down. It's good atmosphere. Obviously more were supporting him, but I also had some good support. Some Brits out here and stuff.

I think it's just normal. You embrace it more than anything. It's US Open third round. It's pretty much packed. It's on a big court. It's a great experience. It's a good atmosphere.

I did find it a little more like a Davis Cup atmosphere. It was pretty loud. So I think that was nice.

Yeah, it's such a long match, you just go about doing your own thing. You don't try to get involved too much with other things. I was pleased with how I handled it.

It was how I expected: he'd get a little more support. It's normal. We're in America, so it was fine.

Q. You've already gone farther than you've ever gone in a slam. Do you go in the next match with absolutely nothing to lose?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, probably. That's how I approached it tonight. I had nothing to lose really. But at the same time I know I'm in a good place. Yeah, just go out there and do my best. Nothing really more.

You know, I definitely don't have anything to lose in this one. I'll just go out there and do my best. Simple as that.

Q. Have you always been able to sort of maintain a calm composure on court? When you were younger, did you ever go through a phase of brattishness or anything like that?
KYLE EDMUND: No, I've always been pretty much like that. I haven't had a dramatic behavior change or anything. I've always been quite calm. You obviously go through your moments. Everyone's human. People get angry, annoyed. People have emotion. People play calm. Everyone's different.

I like to keep things simple, keep in a steady bracket, not too high, not too low. I think that helps my tennis. So, yeah.

Q. Looking in your box during the match, they all seemed, outwardly at least, like they expected you to compete at that level. Did you feel that, too? Do you feel maybe not that you expected to win, but you had a really good chance going in?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, I obviously believe in myself that I can win, yeah. Any match I believe I can win. That's the mentality you've got to have.

I think if you go on court unsure if you're going to win, it's probably only going to go one way, to be honest. I always believe I have the win. I back myself. Doesn't always go like that, but it's the right mentality to have.

But, yeah, you put in the hours. It's no secret. You put in the hours, you put in the hard work, and then you have belief. Generally what you need to train is how you want to play on court. You don't train one way and then turn up on the match court and play another way.

When I train, I train the way I want to play in the match, and that's being aggressive and stuff. I know I can do it. It's just getting out on court and doing it. You have to have belief, definitely, 100%.

Q. You mentioned the court you played on today. Chances are you'll be on Ashe against Novak. Have you had a chance to spend any time in there? Have you practiced there? Have you got any practice lined up?
KYLE EDMUND: No, the only one hit I've ever had in there was on Sunday with Andy. We hit for like an hour and a quarter. That's it really. It's probably a good thing I got to do that because otherwise I wouldn't have had any experience.

Yeah, it's obviously a very big court. But, yeah, we'll see. I mean, it's great to play on all these different courts around the world. I'm getting more exposure on the tour level now. It will be very exciting. I guess it will be very loud, as well, if it's anything to go by tonight.

Q. Do you have any view on the fact that Novak has played 32 minutes of tennis since the first round and you've played three good matches? Might he just be a little bit rusty?
KYLE EDMUND: I don't know. I mean, you'll have to ask him that, if he feels rusty. For me, if he played matches or not, he's going to be tough to play, isn't he? He's a good player.

He consistently plays well. That's one thing I've always noticed. He puts a good level consistently. You would expect that from him on Sunday.

So, you know, like you say, he hasn't played two full matches now so he may be a bit fresher. He may have wanted to play more balls, but that's only something he could answer.

Q. He was very complimentary about you in Miami. Have you had any sort of chats, verbal interactions, since then?
KYLE EDMUND: Not really. Obviously say hi and stuff just when we see each other. But we saw each other in Rio just as we were passing practice, and that was just after Davis Cup. He said he watched all the matches and he congratulated me on that.

Yeah, like I said, last time Boris Becker sent me a text saying, Well done. So they watched it and stuff. That's something I'm obviously very grateful. It's nice of them to do that. It's good class from them.

Yeah, that's all he really said. Yeah, I mean, I respect him massively. It will be a tough match, just like any other match really.

Q. Dan is obviously having a great week as well. Andy is having a fantastic summer. All three of you are having a great year. How much of it does rub off on each other? Do you feel you're plowing your own furrow really?
KYLE EDMUND: I think it's great. We're all doing really well. It's a really good thing, I think. We're going up and up. Obviously Andy isn't going up. He's been there for ages. Yeah, me and Dan are going up now, which is great.

But it's great to see other Brits doing well. Even Jo. She's doing well consistently now. Her ranking reflects it. I think it's a real positive.

It does rub off I think on each other. It's great seeing other people do well. It has that positive vibe. It's the same in Davis Cup. We all watch each other wanting them to win and do well. I think that just carries over into the events.

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