Kyle Edmund fit and ready for Australian Open
ByPA Sport
Updated 13/01/2018 at 12:36 GMT
Kyle Edmund gave himself a clean bill of health ahead of the Australian Open.
Kyle Edmund progresses to the quarter-finals in Brisbane
Image credit: Getty Images
The Yorkshireman provided another injury scare for British tennis when he collapsed on court in Brisbane last week after going over on his ankle.
He pulled out of this week's tournament in Auckland but is content with how he has felt in practice in Melbourne.
He said: "I've practised three or four days now, two hours a day on court. Just a precaution in Auckland really before this week. It feels good, I'm fine with it."
Edmund is the lone British man in the singles draw following the withdrawal of Andy Murray and losses for Cameron Norrie and Liam Broady in qualifying.
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Kyle Edmund suffers a nasty fall in Brisbane
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But the 23-year-old has his work cut out if he is to make it beyond the tournament's opening day after drawing 11th seed and US Open runner-up Kevin Anderson.
The pair have met once before, in the second round of the French Open last summer, when Anderson recovered from two sets to one down to win in five.
"It will be a tough match," said Edmund. "Obviously he had a really good year last year, played well the start of this year.
"It was a good match in Paris, I played well. Of course it's very small margins. I've worked on stuff. Hopefully I can learn from that and do better.
"My serve's improved and putting some more balls into play on the returns is definitely going to be a good one for me against Kevin."
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Kyle Edmund and Grigor Dimitrov
Image credit: Eurosport
Edmund certainly improved during 2017 but was frustrated to finish it virtually where he started at 50 in the rankings.
He was hurt by a significant number of defeats in close matches and has been working to address that with new coaching team Fredrik Rosengren and Mark Hilton.
"I lost a lot of close matches last year so we discussed how do I do better at that, how can I turn those losses into wins," said Edmund.
"We have a very clear understanding of what needs to be done so we're just trying to work along that path. It's been good so far."
With Johanna Konta and Heather Watson the only direct entrants into the women's draw, it is the smallest British contingent at a slam for some time.
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Aljaz Bedene of Great Britain returns a shot to Alexander Zverev of Germany in their Men's Single match during Round 2 of 2017 ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters at Qizhong Stadium on October 10, 2017 in Shanghai, China.
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Edmund insisted he will not feel any extra weight on his shoulders, saying: " My approach doesn't change, the way I think or do things because I'm the only British guy in the draw.
"It's more of a shame than anything that Andy's not playing, and obviously unfortunately (Dan) Evans, and Aljaz (Bedene) has changed his nationality."
While Evans serves a 12-month doping ban, Bedene has opted to switch back to his native Slovenia after his lengthy campaign to play Davis Cup and Olympic tennis for Great Britain came to nothing.
Edmund was broadly sympathetic.
"His main reason as far as I'm aware was because he wanted to play in the Olympics and I guess the only way he can do that is to play for Slovenia at the minute," he said.
"The support he got from the LTA was very good with all the legal stuff. At the end of the day you've got to be selfish. I still get on with him fine."
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