US Open 2016: Kyle Edmund set for Novak Djokovic fourth-round match

  • Posted: Sep 03, 2016
US Open
Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 29 August-11 September
Coverage: Live commentary on Radio 5 live sports extra plus live text on the big matches on the BBC Sport website and app.

Kyle Edmund says he will try to take the game to Novak Djokovic when he faces the world number one in the fourth round of the US Open on Sunday.

The 21-year-old world number 84 has beaten two seeds to reach the last 16 for the first time in his career.

Edmund, whose match starts around 02:00 BST on Monday, said: “I’ll look to play aggressively as that’s my game.”

Fellow Brit Johanna Konta will bid for a quarter-final place when she plays Anastasija Sevastova at 16:00 BST.

Konta, the 13th seed, collapsed on court during her second-round victory over Tsvetana Pironkova but looked to have made a full recovery in an impressive third-round win over Belinda Bencic.

Sevastova, ranked 48 in the world, beat French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in the second round before overcoming Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko in the third.

“I do know her and have been on court with her,” Konta said. “But that was a number of years ago.

“She’s obviously playing very good tennis and I have a lot of respect for her.”

Is Djokovic rusty?

Edmund will hope that the defending champion might be a little bit rusty after only playing one full match to reach the last 16.

Djokovic, who was troubled by an upper arm injury in his four-set victory over Jerzy Janowicz in the first round, has had two walkovers because of injuries to his opponents and completed just six games in the last two rounds.

But the 29-year-old Serb, a 12-time Grand Slam winner, argued the extra recovery could be beneficial.

“Considering the stage of the season and the amount of matches I’ve played, and what I’ve been through with my body, I think it’s actually good to have some days off and then shorter matches,” he said.

“The arm is doing very well. Everything is going in the right direction. I feel significantly better now than I did at the beginning of the tournament.”

Matches you dream about

Edmund lost 6-3 6-3 when he played Djokovic for the first time in Miami earlier this year, but said he had learnt a lot.

“He beat me in straight sets but I had some success,” said the British number four. “In the middle of the match I started taking it to him a bit more.

“That’s my game and that’s what I’ve been doing this tournament.

“These are the situations you want to be in, what you dream about, reaching the fourth round of a slam and now getting the opportunity to play the world number one.”

Losing is not the end of the world – Sevastova

Fed up with injuries, 26-year-old Sevastova retired from tennis in 2013 and decided to take up a course in management.

“I did some studying, played tennis with kids, gave some lessons,” Sevastova said. “It was strange. I didn’t find it that difficult to study but, yeah, it made me go back to tennis.”

Sevastova, who returned to the professional game in January last year, added: “After coming back of course you enjoy it when you win more.

“Now I can see there is life after tennis as well and if you lose a match it’s not the end of the world. The world does not collapse.”

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