MX23RW : Wednesday, December 18 19:09:30| >> :600:172532052:172532052:

Kyle Edmund 'honoured' to grace Centre Court with winning Wimbledon opener

Kyle Edmund 'honoured' to grace Centre Court with winning Wimbledon opener
© Reuters
The Brit will face Fernando Verdasco next.

Kyle Edmund was happy to build on a blossoming relationship with Centre Court as he got his Wimbledon campaign up and running in comfortable fashion.

The British number one closed the opening day's play on the main show court with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over Spaniard Jaume Munar.

It is just the 24-year-old's fourth outing on Centre and it is an experience he would like to get used to.

"On Centre Court, it is always a great experience," he said after setting up a second-round meeting with Fernando Verdasco. "You always remember every match you play there.

"The more you play on there, obviously you just feel more comfortable with your surroundings and the court.

"Any time you play on Centre Court it's just an amazing honour and feeling.

"Like I said before, you should never take it for granted. It's just really special.

Kyle Edmund got the Centre Court crowd on his side
Kyle Edmund got the Centre Court crowd on his side (Steven Paston/PA)

"You know you're on Centre Court, you're obviously concentrated on the match. Still inside, it's pretty cool playing on Centre Court."

Edmund came on to court after women's second seed Naomi Osaka had been dumped out by Yulia Putintseva, but even though he got off to a scratchy start, losing the first two games, there was never much chance of another shock.

Fresh from his run to the semi-final at Eastbourne he looked in good shape, peppering 45 winners off both wings, though he had to work hard for the win.

He needed 10 attempts to claim the first set and then squandered a 5-1 lead in the third, but he was happy to get the job done.

"It was great for me. Coming through in straight sets, I had to work hard for it, for sure," he added.

"It was nice to get the ball rolling and get some momentum. Different reasons this year, I just haven't played a lot of consecutive matches of tennis this year.

"It is nice. It is good to win the first round, but you want to win more.

"It's no good just winning one round each time you come here. There's always that eagerness to try and keep winning obviously and do your best."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Jonathan Veal, PA');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '920b2df5-0666-4f62-804e-1e3c987c4426');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:tennis');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Kyle Edmund loves playing on Centre Court as he cruises through to round two'});

ID:363520: cacheID:363520:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7076:
Written by
P A
No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Cori Gauff in action at Wimbledon on July 1, 2019
Read Next:
Profile: 15-year-old Cori Gauff, slayer of Venus Williams
>
Read more about Kyle Edmund Tennis
rhs 2.0
Today's games header


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!