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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 19, 2018

Kyle Edmund

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

K. EDMUND/N. Basilashvili

7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How do you feel?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, good. Mostly a bit tired, but really good to win a match like that in tough conditions. Mentally, physically. Yeah, just another five-set win for me, which is good.

Yeah, just lots of positives. But, yeah, just tired. I mean, physically and mentally it takes a lot out of you, that type of match. Just to keep fighting and chipping away. Yeah, the heat, you know, it zaps the energy out of you.

Q. Is that the hardest physical test you have ever had?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it's definitely one of them, for sure. I have obviously played longer, Anderson matches for four hours and on, I think, so longer.

Yeah, this one today was very tough. You know, probably hottest conditions I played in for that sort of period of time. I mean, I don't know the temperatures, but obviously on paper they were saying it was pretty much 40 degrees today.

Yeah, just really happy to come through and, you know, mentally it's a really good win, that sort of match.

Q. Have you taken much notice about the debate, last 48 hours, whether it's safe for players to be playing in conditions like you were in today?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, I don't know. I don't really know about the rules. I don't know if they are a little bit -- I'm sure there are black-and-white rules. I'm a bit vague with them. I have heard it's like 40 degrees is the rule, but if it's 40 degrees, you'd have to start the match, but if you're playing the match and hits 40 degrees, you don't come off.

So, yeah, I'm not really sure about the rules, but it's a tough one. I mean, it's a professional sport. It's meant to hurt. It's not meant to be easy at some point of it.

But, yeah, I guess -- yeah. I mean, if people do start to become ill, then it might be a concern. But as far as the way I run, sort of just getting through.

Q. If the tournament director did come out halfway through the match today and stopped play because of heat, would you have thought that was fair enough, given the conditions?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, I definitely would have taken it, for sure (smiling).

Q. What about the second game in the fourth set? Pivotal game in the match, it seemed.
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, probably the longest game in my career, to be honest. It felt like 15, 20 minutes, but...

Q. It was.
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, I mean, sets get played as quick as that. I mean, that game actually worked out to be a very key game, because that game was a set from him, you know. The way he played, dictated, wanted to go to a fifth. It was a key game to get through, and very long game.

And then for me, from then on, the end of that fourth and the fifth, it was just really -- just, yeah. Trying to get through, basically. Physically it was getting tough out there.

Q. What was the problem when you had the medical timeout in the first set?
KYLE EDMUND: My back was just a bit tight. I wanted some hot cream on it.

Q. You felt fine with it after that?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah.

Q. You were a set and a break up. Then lost seven games in a row. Particular reason for that? Was it a swing of momentum?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it was just the tennis reason, nothing else. The game went away from me. Lost my way a bit, and he obviously got confidence from it.

Yeah, I mean, just sensing those situations. He's always aggressive. Maybe slightly more aggressive and I was a little bit too passive. The points -- I think I allowed him, the points, to come very easy to him. Obviously being a break up and then I think I lost my serve twice in a row to lose a set, it's not what you want.

But it obviously happened. Well, yeah, three times in a row, because I lost my serve the first game of the third. And then I actually turned that momentum around but lost it again.

Yeah, the middle of the match was tricky like that, but, you know, as you see, the longer it goes on, you know, it's not a short match. There's so many opportunities to come up that the physical played a part in it towards the end, for sure.

Q. What can you tell us about your next, potential next opponent.
KYLE EDMUND: I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. I don't know who I'm playing.

Yeah, I don't know. Obviously, well, they are both very different game styles. Yeah, I don't know yet. I'm literally, just one of those matches where mentally I'm just really happy to get through and I haven't paid any attention to the next one.

Q. Andy said in a tweet he felt that was the best win of your career, given the circumstances. Wonder, do you feel like it's the best win of your career?
KYLE EDMUND: Oh, it's definitely up there, for sure. It's really hard to put, you know, if it's the best win or not. For sure, the physical test was a great, great win for me to come through like that in a Grand Slam. Best-of-five sets in that kind of heat, really good for my career and my confidence going forward, for sure.

I mean, on paper it's obviously not, but it still doesn't mean it's any better or worse, that type of win. I think the fact that I was down like that and came through a lot of tough moments in the match, is really good for me. You know, I showed good character to come through that.

So two five sets this week against two good players. Yeah, it's pleasing for me.

Q. How good do you feel about yourself, your tennis, your physicality between the match against Goffin and Davis Cup couple years ago when you started really well and didn't finish that well and today? How big a gap is that?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it's really good. I mean, it obviously shows improvement. I obviously knew I improved. It was good to see results on the court.

Yeah, it's just experience, maturity coming through, stuff like that.

You know, it's sad and it hurts. It's good you're able to turn that around, you know, like the situation in the Davis Cup, really good to, you know, being disappointing for myself and the team, but this is obviously not team competition. It's good for myself personally that I'm winning five sets like that in tough conditions.

Physically getting through them in obviously the toughest conditions in tennis pretty much. It's really good. I'm really happy, you know, it's one of those things where you never sort of settle, like settle for what you have. You always try to get better whatever it is, the small details.

But, yeah, it's just at the minute I'm just happy to get through, equaled my best slam performance. Really good wins this week. Showed good professionalism, like, in my game and things are improving.

That's the direction I want to be in.

Q. Did you have many physical symptoms out there with the heat? Was there any point where you kind of felt a bit funny within yourself?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it was hot, man. It's tough. There is no getting around it. You know, for me, mentally, you know, I just accepted it's going to be tough today. Like, it's gonna be hot. Physically you're probably going to be feeling not your best. Yeah, that's just the way I approached it.

It was tough out there. Like I said, it drains your energy, zaps the energy out of you. To repeat and repeat and repeat, it's tough. You just, best way to do it, I find, is just to manage yourself.

Of course in the fifth set it's tough. Like I'm feeling, like, you know, I'm feeling down with the body -- or not down. I don't know what the word is. You're just obviously feeling it. That's how you get through it.

Q. What have you done to recover since coming off court?
KYLE EDMUND: Just stretched and eaten and trying to drink as much as I can. Ice bath.

Q. For how long?
KYLE EDMUND: I was in there for 10 minutes. Yeah.

But, yeah, just take my time, really. The body is just low on stuff, you know. It's been out there for however long in heat. You know, it's just lost a lot of fluids, lost a lot of energy and nutrition. So you need -- the quicker you can refuel that it's better for the body. Yeah, sleep, as well, is really good for it. The next, whatever, 48 hours will just be about recovery, you know, looking after the body.

Q. When you play on the bigger courts, there are two areas of shade at the back of each court and players tend to go there as often as they can. Does it make a huge difference in terms of how you can recover between one point or another or in the long run throughout a match?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah. I mean, I don't think I really used that today. It didn't actually cross my mind. But in the long run, I don't think it will help too much.

For me, there's not too much you can do. The guys stand there for 10 or 15 seconds in the shade, then come out and play points, I don't think there is too much you can save yourself from. You just have to accept it's hot.

Of course, you want shade. You want ice towels, because it cools you down, but it's just something that feels nice and cools you down. I don't think physically it makes you any better or stronger. It's still the point comes in the match when you hit three-hour or two-hour mark of heat when you know it's starting to hurt really and you're starting to feel it.

Q. How confident are you that you will be able to recover physically?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah. Yeah, you got a day off. Yeah, it's normal tennis, like, that's why we train every day, because you need accumulation of hours. Not just one off-day or one off-match. It's hours and hours of day after day.

I'm pretty confident, I mean, two sleeps until the match. I guess that's the beauty of Grand Slams is you get that day off.

Q. I know obviously Karlovic/Seppi, both excellent players, but on paper it's a good chance, isn't it, for you to get to your first quarterfinal?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it's a tough match, like, the reason I'm playing in the fourth round is because the guy I'm playing has also won three other matches. He's also going to be feeling good and feeling good about his game, like myself.

Yeah, at the end of the day, it's 0-0. It's a fresh match. Doesn't really matter about head-to-heads or what their number is in the bracket next to their name. Makes no difference. As you have probably seen in this tournament, there are a lot of seeds that have gone out.

Yeah, it has to be a new challenge for me and get all that out of my head. It has to be ready for battle, really. That's the way I look at it.

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