Kyle Edmund triumphs in Antwerp!

The Brit had a rather strange week in Belgium as he got to the final without much struggle after he dropped just 9 games in the first 3 matches.

Kyle didn’t play the 1st round because as a top seed he received a bye, and later (R2) he defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-0 6-2; in the quarters, Kyle had a free pass after Ilya Ivashka withdrew before playing, and in the semifinal, he breezed past Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-4.

 

The final

The last act of the week was a tricky one because Edmund had to face Gael Monfils that was playing fantastic tennis for the entire event. The Frenchman conquered the opening set (6-3) after breaking Kyle in the second game (2-0).

The Brit looked quite nervous, but he managed to find a better groove in the second set after conquering a 4-1 lead. However, you can never trust Monfils and Gael managed to get back in the match to break Kyle in the 7th game (4-3) before bringing the affair to the breaker.  Edmund was rock solid, and he grabbed a solid 5-1 lead before winning the tiebreak 7-2.

In the third set, the Frenchman looked to be the better (or more solid) player. Edmund managed to hold his 1st service game after saving 2 consecutive break points when he was trailing 15-40. Later it was time for Gael to save 2 successive break points in the 9th game, but once again the fight had to be decided at the breaker. Kyle and Gael went toe to toe till the end, but it was the Brit to finally find a fantastic forehand down the line that gave him his first career title. The final score was 3-6 7-6 (2) 7-6 (4)

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The emotions

Kyle was struggling to hold her emotions to comment

“It’s a great feeling, just overall the bigger picture is the overriding emotion, like so many years putting in the work, on and off the court.

It fills you with confidence and belief, and next time you’re in that similar situation you have the experience to look back on and see how you reacted. That feeling is a positive one, and it will definitely help me moving forwards for the future.

The goal is always to be consistent, regardless of the result today I would’ve always said that. If you want to go up the rankings, consistency is always key.”

The Brit will now play the ATP500 in Vienna where he will face Diego Schwartzman in the 1st round.

 

FANTASTIC AND FULL OF EMOTIONS
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