Kyle Edmund’s march towards the Australian Open semi-finals this fortnight has been nothing short of remarkable.
The world No. 49 was 0-14 against top-10 opposition prior to these two weeks and had made it past the second round at a Grand Slam just three times before in 13 main draw appearances at the majors.
Now, the 23-year-old South African-born Brit has claimed the biggest win of his career — a four-set success over world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov, to storm into the last-four at Melbourne Park.
He next faces either Rafael Nadal or Marin Cilic for a dream place in the final.
Edmund’s run to the semi-finals in Melbourne looked like this:
R1 beat Kevin Anderson [11] 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
R2 beat world No60 Denis Istomin 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
R3 beat world No61 Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5
R4 beat world No76 Andreas Seppi 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
QF beat Grigor Dimitrov [3] 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Here’s a close analysis of the numbers behind Edmund’s historic fortnight Down under…
1 – Edmund is the first British man, other than Andy Murray, to reach the Australian Open semi-finals since John Lloyd in December 1977.
1 – Edmund’s win over third-ranked Dimitrov was his first against a top-five opponent in 12 attempts.
2 – five-set wins for Edmund this fortnight, the first time he’s done so at the same tournament.
5 – second serve aces struck by Edmund so far this tournament.
5 – Edmund has posted five consecutive tour-level match wins for the first time in his career.
6 – Edmund is the sixth British male Grand Slam semi-finalist in the Open Era, joining countrymen Roger Taylor, John Lloyd, Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman and Andy Murray.
14 – hours and 48 minutes, total time spent on court through five matches.
22 – break points saved, out of 33 faces throughout the tournament.
30 – Edmund will crack the top-30 for the first time thanks to making the semis. If reaches the final, he’ll rank in the top-20.
74.6 – per cent, Edmund’s success rate in net points this tournament, won 53 out of 71 net points (20/25 in the match against Dimitrov).
78 – aces fired by Edmund so far this tournament.
184 – km/hr, the average speed of his first serve this Australian Open.
278 – winners coming off the Edmund racquet through five matches this fortnight, averaging 55.6 winners per match. He has hit 199 unforced errors.
