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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY SUNCORP

January 2, 2018

Kyle Edmund

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

K. EDMUND/D. Shapovalov

6-7, 7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That must be a pleasing start to the season. It's quite a tough draw. I guess pretty nice to come through it.
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah. Good to come through it. Yeah, like, tough player. Last year had a really good year, obviously, so he's a good player.

First match of the year, you don't really know what to expect, so it's good to come through like that. And to come through, like, a tough match as well, you know, you have to play good tennis. You have to play good tennis in pressure situations.

So, yeah, it was good. And hopefully even -- yeah, it's the first match -- you can get better and better. But to beat Denis this match is good. Pleased with it.

Q. How did you feel? You turned it around after losing that first set.
KYLE EDMUND: I mean, I played okay. I broke him first. Got broke straight back. But I felt okay. Just everything wasn't quite flowing together. But kept going, kept going, and it was good. Served a lot better in the second and third. And generally, in the points and the rallies, I felt a little bit more comfortable.

It started off very humid, so I think the ball was flying a lot. So that type of game style is whoever got the first shot in really had a real opportunity. But then it cooled down and the pace came off, which I definitely felt with the ball speed.

Q. You've obviously had a couple of months now working with Fredrik. Can you tell us the kind of things that you're sort of working on with him?
KYLE EDMUND: Well, been working on a lot of mental stuff, really. Just game management was one of the things.

You know, I was saying with Hilts and Fidde, that, you know, when I'm coming off the court having some tough losses, it's generally not too much about shots and fitness and stuff.

Of course, it can always improve, but I was saying mostly I feel it's just game management and being smart in certain situations. A bit more, like, street-wise you could say.

But, yeah, just game management and playing a little bit of the score line, you know, not -- yeah, just being more smart. And we've been discussing ways, obviously, how to do that within my game and work that out basically. So, you know, it's a constant work in progress, isn't it?

Q. Tell us briefly what you did in the offseason and where you were.
KYLE EDMUND: I went two weeks in London and then two weeks in the Bahamas. And then a couple of British guys came out with me. So it was good.

Q. So was it the Bahamas at the end of that training?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah.

Q. So did that prepare you for the conditions here?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, that's what you do, really. Like, I've obviously spent -- last year was in Miami, the year before that was Dubai, and then two years before that was in Miami, and then this year Bahamas.

So it's always somewhere hot. That's basically it. Spending four weeks training indoors in London isn't ideal coming to hot conditions like this. So, literally, it's good mentally to obviously break it up as well, not having four weeks at National Tennis Center. Can do your head in.

Q. Back to the decision-making. In a match like that, is it tempting to just get into a shootout where you're both absolutely ripping the cover off it?
KYLE EDMUND: Not really. I mean, we're both smart enough to -- you know, we're professional tennis players, you know, that just slapping the ball isn't going to work.

So, no, it's just being smart a bit. Of course, the conditions invite that as well. Like, it looks like that because it's so -- well, it was hot and humid, but the courts are pretty quick and lively, the balls.

So it is the right way to play to go for your shots, because you get rewarded very well here if you hit a good shot. And like I said earlier, if you get the first punch in in the rally, then it's hard to turn defense into attack.

So I think that's what I knew and that's what was happening at the first set, but I do think that the conditions got a little bit -- a tad colder. So the ball speed wasn't as high. So it was a little bit easier to control.

Q. How would that compare with Melbourne, do you reckon?
KYLE EDMUND: Very similar, but obviously it's slightly different because there's a roof. So plays a little bit differently. But when it's very hot, it's hotter here than Melbourne in my opinion and more humid.

So, yeah, very similar conditions, though.

Q. I'm just wondering if you have heard the news that Andy has pulled out. Have you hit with him at all?
KYLE EDMUND: No. I last hit with him when I was two weeks in London, you know, in the offseason. I hit with him once.

Q. In early December?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, basically before I went to the Bahamas, I had one session with him at Raynes Park where he was training. But I haven't hit with him here.

Q. How did you find him when you hit with him?
KYLE EDMUND: Pretty much, I think, how he's been looking. Like, hitting the ball extremely well, like, drilling and stuff. But we didn't really do any running. Like, we didn't play any points because we were just drilling. So I didn't really see him run.

But, yeah, pretty much how he was now. Probably the reason we weren't running is I was obviously getting back into it and he was building it up, I guess. So I couldn't really say what he was like moving side to side, but we were just drilling. He was hitting really well. And, naturally, we didn't want to do any drilling because I was just getting back in it off of two weeks off, and he obviously was rehabbing his -- building up his hip.

Q. Did it come as a surprise to you?
KYLE EDMUND: Here? Well, not really, no. Because no one really knows where he's at, do they?

But I thought he was -- the fact that he came here, you know, played a set in Abu Dhabi and came here, I thought was more encouraging that, you know, he was getting better and better.

So, yeah, I think it's obviously a shame he's not playing because he's not ready. But, you know, it sucks that he's not ready, doesn't it?

So everyone wants him to be on court. It's just rubbish rehabbing, like, the whole time and there's only so long you can, you know. It's good to do it.

But anyway, hopefully he's good for -- if he plays future -- well, I guess the only other tournament he'll play is Melbourne. Hopefully he plays Melbourne. But if not, it would be a shame to come to Australia and not play. It should be annoying.

Q. Back to your situation, who is here with you this week?
KYLE EDMUND: Fidde.

Q. And with you all the way through to Melbourne?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, yeah. Hilts is home because his wife is expecting. So he'll come with me to South America after Davis Cup. Yeah.

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