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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 10, 2019

Kyle Edmund

Indian Wells, California

K. EDMUND/N. Jarry

6-2, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Tell me a little bit about the match.
KYLE EDMUND: It was good. I have been here two-and-a-half weeks now, so I'm used to conditions, feel comfortable with it. Not just comfortable, like, expressing myself. Playing aggressively.

Five matches in the challenger helped last week with my confidence, in my game, and on my body.

Today was just about managing expectations. I know I've been feeling good, and obviously winning the challenger, so I was telling myself not to expect to come out and play well but compete harder than -- you know, try and compete really hard and earn the victory rather than just playing well.

It was great. I ended up playing well, seeing the ball well, reading his serve good. So, yeah, just really happy for the win.

Q. How frustrating has the knee injury been? Obviously you made the decision not to rush back. Talk a little bit about how that's feeling now.
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it's always not nice and frustrating that you can't play. Sometimes it's a little bit out of your control. The body is a funny thing. It will go at its own pace. You can obviously help it and speed it up slightly, but there is only to a point you can speed up things. So you kind of have to let it work itself out and heal itself.

So, yeah, after Australia, I was entered into Rotterdam, Marseilles, and decided to pull out after two tournaments to then give me about six weeks' training. Ended up training for about five weeks doing a training block, and it just really helped with the strength, robust of my body, and the cardio, as well. It's something I couldn't really do before. Australia was a lot of cardio work just because you can't put the load through the body because of the knee.

So I did a lot of good things. You know, gave me confidence coming in. It was good to show that.

Q. Where did you do all that?
KYLE EDMUND: A little bit in London and a little bit in Bahamas.

Q. So you've got, I think, Fognini or...
KYLE EDMUND: Albot.

Q. Yeah. He's obviously just had his first title.
KYLE EDMUND: Uh-huh.

Q. Talk a bit about what you expect between either of those.
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, I mean, different players. You kind of get something different wherever you play. Like you say, Radu may be been around for a while in terms of he's always competing hard, someone you know won't give you stuff.

So now he's got a tour win, which is extra confidence and anyone who is confident in sport is dangerous. Confidence plays a massive spot in tennis.

So, yeah, it will be difficult. All these matches, to be honest, in Masters, there's no real easy draws. I'm playing well at the same time, so it's kind of like I'm confident going in, but you always have to respect who you're playing just because of their situation.

And Fabio is one of them it doesn't kind of matter if he's won a tournament or he's lost a match, he's always dangerous in the way he plays and how he can play. So we'll see.

Q. What do you like about the conditions here? You obviously played well.
KYLE EDMUND: I mean, you just get rewarded for good play in terms of if you're getting on top of the point, you can really get through the court. It rewards attacking tennis. The ball shoots off the court. It's bouncy. It grips.

The courts, in my opinion, are different, depending where you play, but it goes through the air obviously quick and then checks because of the sandy surface.

I have been here about two-and-a-half weeks, so you can get used to any court when you've been around for two-and-a-half weeks.

But, yeah, my game is good. I know where things are going right and where things need to improve, and I have been trying to work to improve them.

So, yeah, you know, it's good so far.

Q. Do you think observers take into account sufficiently how you guys have to readjust week after week after week, not just geographically but court surface and the balls? Reinventing yourself every week?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah. Yeah, kind of. Like, it definitely plays a part. The travel is a big thing you just don't obviously see, but it does take a part.

A lot of these places you go to, it's a day travel. And when you are playing week after week, a day out of that week is just travel and you've got the same again. Plus, when you get there, totally different conditions, sometimes different balls, different temperatures. The surface is always different.

But at the same time, it's the same for everyone, so everyone is in the same boat. You have to get used to it. You don't have to feel sorry for yourself.

But it is interesting for someone who just watches the tennis and sees you playing on court. There is a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes, a lot of preparation and effort and energy goes into it.

And even now after the match, it's not like we just go and chill out. There is recovery, you know, media requirements. You have antidoping. There is stuff that goes on that obviously takes time and energy.

Q. What's your current coaching situation? How proud are you that you have come out of the challenger on top of hearing that he was going to step down?
KYLE EDMUND: I didn't really think about it so much like that. He was actually with me in my training block in Bahamas. He had got me in a good place and that was great. And he said, you know, you're in a great place. No reason why you can't go on and do well.

But, yeah, in terms of his decision, yeah, just obviously you respect it. You always respect anyone's decision, especially him. He's been on tour 30, 35 years.

We were together about a year and a bit, year and a half maybe. So he taught me a lot of good things, very experienced, won my first tour event, got to the semifinals of a Grand Slam, career high. So I was very happy of the work we were doing.

But, yeah, I think he basically thought -- he was thinking how long am I going to keep doing this? Where I'm at in life?

He's on the road, like, I think it was like 230 days-plus. So, yeah, sometimes you just want to spend time with family. And, yeah, it's not a concept I've ever had because it's not like, Thank you, Coach, I'm going to move on now; or the coach, I'm going to move on to a different player.

But it's the first time ever said, I'm going to be retiring. I'm not going to be traveling on the tour. I just want to spend time with family.

Yeah, I just thanked him and that was it, really. I'll always be a friend to him and keep in touch with him. He always wants me to do well.

Q. Who are you working with now and what are the plans?
KYLE EDMUND: Well, Fidde and Hilts share the time. So Hilts is still coaching me. We haven't actually -- we had a schedule at the start of the year with him and Fidde, but we haven't quite visited the schedule. I'm sure it will be altered just because Fidde was doing some weeks and we need to see what's going to happen. I think Hilts will probably end up doing a few more weeks. But at the same time, he doesn't want to be traveling 40, 45 weeks. It's just not sustainable.

I'll figure out what I want to do and maybe get another coach or stick with Hilts and travel with just a physio that week or something.

Yeah, we'll see what happens, but just because of where I was at with my injury, I just wanted to play matches and not really think about that at the minute.

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