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ROLAND GARROS

June 2, 2018

Kyle Edmund

Paris, France

F. FOGNINI/K. Edmund

6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Give us your verdict on the match.
KYLE EDMUND: Well, I mean, it's tough to digest a five-set match, you know, so soon after. But initially obviously tough match, disappointed. Always losing in five sets, you know, is tough. But, you know, I did the best I could today.

Yeah, sometimes it's just not your day. You know, I have been on, I guess, the opposite end, winning a few five-setters, and today just losing one. It's always tough when you put in lots of effort and, you know, emotion and stuff. It's what you train for. And it just wasn't my day.

Yeah, for sure, I had my chances, he had his chances, but he just got them today. Yeah, it's just one of them where it's over now and just sort of reflect a bit and go again for the grass court season.

Q. Can you talk us through the injury timeout? What was the problem? Whatever was done to you, did it kind of do the trick?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, I just wanted just my leg loosened up just in my hip, and it helped a bit. Yeah, I was okay after that.

Q. Is he a tough guy to play mentally? Leon spoke to him in advance and he said he was. Would you agree with that because of the way he comes and goes in his intensity?
KYLE EDMUND: No, he's not a tough guy to play, he's just like any other player. He has his ways of going about things. I just focus on myself and try and get my game going first and concentrate on my game and you can't fret what the other guy does, really. He's just playing tennis.

Yeah, I was okay dealing with whatever was considered "tricky," but fine with me.

Q. He plays at so many levels during the course of the match. Sometimes he barely seems bothered, and then he plays like he did the way in the last two games.
KYLE EDMUND: I don't know. I don't really take as much notice as I think maybe spectators would or guys watching the match.

I don't -- yeah, I just try and get on it with it and play my game, really.

Q. Obviously been quite a long clay court campaign for you, relatively. How would you kind of assess it as a whole, and what do you think you can learn from it going forward?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, I mean, I guess it's long in terms of it's very intense and you play a lot of matches, but it goes so quickly, like all these sort of seasons do.

So overall, I mean, you have to say it's a positive in the fact that it's my best sort of clay court run this year. So, yeah, I have had some good wins recently in the Masters, and, yeah, it wasn't a bad tournament here, a couple of good wins and a tough loss against a quality player, and reached my first final. So you have to say I have won more matches this year on the clay than I have before. You have to say I'm improving.

Yeah, there is good things, I think it's the same always, there is always good things and there is always stuff to learn, get better at. That's just a continued development thing. Yeah, no different, really. Just happy with some things and some things I can for sure get better, like I think most players will say a similar thing.

It's obviously now the attention goes into the grass and what I learned from last year, and how I can get better in that way.

So it's I guess a different approach now in terms of the surfaces.

Q. You obviously had good wins against Djokovic and Goffin where your level was very high. Was the biggest frustration today that you weren't able to quite hit those heights of play, you know, in the five-setter against Fognini?
KYLE EDMUND: You can't expect to play, you know, Mach 10 all the time and hit the highs. It's unrealistic to think that, that you're going to play at your best all the time, so you have to deal with what you have. Some parts today I was pretty good and some parts today I gave away.

But I don't know how long the match was, about three-and-a-half hours or something, but I don't know how you can expect to go on the court for three-and-a-half hours and play at the highs that you always want to. It's just not going to happen.

So that's why you have to be realistic and deal with what you have, deal with what you have at that time. It's close, I'm sure the points were close. And I had break points in the fifth, just couldn't get them, and when he had his break points he obviously did. The margin is always very small. And I have won some tight matches this year for sure and this one is a close one I have lost.

Q. You said obviously that you have been in some tough five-setters and you have come out the winner. It's not worked that way today but obviously to get a good run at a Grand Slam you're going to have to go through these five-setters. Do you feel like you're stepping up to that level of competition? Are you in a position where you're more ready for the battle in the five-setters?
KYLE EDMUND: Well, I think I am. I reached semifinals of a Grand Slam already. I'd say I'm ready to play five-setters. And I think I have won two five-setters in Australia.

I don't think it's about being ready, but you can be ready to play and it's not guaranteed you're going to win.

So, yeah, you have to accept that and the reason it's in the fifth set is because you have both won two sets so you have both found ways to win sets.

Yeah, it's no different -- I mean, this time last year I won a tough five-setter to Anderson. Probably sort of a similar feeling. Did my best, had my chances but just couldn't get there. It's tough, but you quickly move on. And initially this sort of period you'll just -- yeah, you're just down, because you lost the tennis match and you put everything you could and you want to win. That's just a human instinct coming out, like everyone wants to win.

So, yeah, I don't think it's a thing about am I ready. You know, I definitely believe I'm ready to win matches and I have done, but every match is different. Just because you win a few doesn't mean you're guaranteed to win the next. So you always have to earn it.

Q. It's quite soon afterwards, but what do you have planned now? Take a break, get away from it a bit? When do you see yourself on a grass court?
KYLE EDMUND: Well, I'm sure I will have a bit of a break. It's normal after I guess the end of a surface season or end of a Grand Slam, just take a bit of down time to rest up mentally, physically, whatever way you want to look at it, and, yeah, just get ready to go again.

So I mean, what is it? Saturday today. So it's pretty much two weeks to obviously Queen's. In that time we plan to train and have enough rest and get the balance right, and, yeah, sort of schedule everything in.

But, yeah, I'll have a bit of a rest, and at some point obviously start practicing on the grass.

Q. Obviously attention will turn to Wimbledon. There is always hype and pressure on the British players. Sometimes expectation levels are set too high. Have you got any expectations of yourself? What should be set for people watching on the media, as well? Because we don't want to get too giddy, do we?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it's just normal, obviously, the expectations around that time. I don't know. Expectations are through success.

So expectations are people expecting to win or have a successful tournament. In one way, it's nice that people want you to be successful. They don't want you to lose. Otherwise if you lose, then they're happy (smiling).

But, yeah, I mean, it's just normal. This year, you know, it means I'm going in the right direction that people maybe expect me to do better. I always do my best. That's all I can say. It's no different there. I'm going to do the best I can. Whatever happens, happens.

You know, I hope I have not let anyone down if I don't do so well. That's it, really. I'm going to try and enjoy it as much as I can. But, yeah, like you said, it will probably be a bit busier and new experience for me.

Q. You'll obviously have a reasonably high seeding at Wimbledon. Given that everyone generally has so little time to get used to playing on grass, how big of an advantage do you think that could be?
KYLE EDMUND: Say again? Seeding?

Q. Yeah, because you'll be seeded at Wimbledon and you won't play a seed in the first two rounds, how much of advantage is that, given that it takes everyone time to get used to playing on grass again?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it's a tough one to answer, really. All depends on the opponent, really, whoever you draw. Yeah, you're guaranteed to not play, I guess, a seed, so the top 32 guys in the world. It's one of them where it doesn't really matter who you play. You have to be on your game.

It's like if I draw Alex again or something, it would be a tough first round, like, playing him on a grass court. He's outside 100, but you have to be on your game.

I think, you know, it's nice maybe you don't -- you know you're not going to play Roger first round, but you have to be on it. Like, I think you can see at these tournaments, certain results, and maybe some close matches, you can see how everyone has a chance to win.

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