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ROLAND GARROS

May 30, 2019

Kyle Edmund

Paris, France

P. CUEVAS/K. Edmund

7-6, 6-3, 2-1 [Ret.]

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you just talk us through your decision to retire there.
KYLE EDMUND: Well, just wasn't happy with my knee. So didn't feel it was obviously right to carry on and best to not play on it more.

Q. Is it the same -- I think when you were in Paris for the indoors in November, that was a knee issue, wasn't it? Is it related to that?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it's the left knee, so it's the same thing, yeah.

Q. Can you expand a little bit? Is it a tendonitis type sort of issue?
KYLE EDMUND: Well, more specifically I don't want to say because that's personal to me, my body. But it's the same sort of thing, same injury that I'm dealing with basically.

Q. When in the match did you have the knee problem and had you had a problem the first match as well?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah. I've been dealing with it for quite a while. So it's not anything knew. It's just been having to manage it, so yeah.

Q. (Off microphone.)
KYLE EDMUND: Well, it's been an issue for a while, so yeah.

Q. You took the weeks off after Australia and then came back and played quite a few tournaments. Has it been a problem all the way through? Was it better and then it got worse?
KYLE EDMUND: It fluctuates. It's never like a bang on, this is how it is. For this period of time, the body fluctuates, different feelings, different pains. So sometimes you feel good, sometimes not.

Obviously your workload can affect it. So playing a long match the other day has a bit of an impact on it as well. So it's just constant management of it and trying to deal with it the best you can.

Q. Are you going to need a prolonged period of rest now? Is Wimbledon in doubt for you now?
KYLE EDMUND: I don't know. I mean, obviously hope not. I try and do everything I can. But, yeah, it's not -- it's not like this is what you got to do, this is how you're going to get fixed, or this is the time. It's just things are a lot more complex like that with the body. There's no right -- no exact, like, formula to fix things or get things better. You just have to do the best you can and do rational things, like what makes sense, to get it better.

This is professional sport, you know. You're dealing with things every day, so it's nothing new.

Q. Is it more an issue of surgery? Is that an option for you?
KYLE EDMUND: Obviously that's the last resort, isn't it? You don't want that. So you always look at avenues before that, and that is the very, very last thing you do.

Q. I wonder what is the impact on your kind of state of mind having this sort of -- I guess it's always a worry. Is it quite difficult to live with?
KYLE EDMUND: Well, as a sportsman you live with it every day. You can ask, I think, any sportsman or tennis player if they're dealing with something. I don't think you would get one player that, yeah, I'm pain-free today or I'm not feeling something.

It kind of just becomes part of your life, waking up with something a little bit sore, so you get on with it. You sort of take enjoyment out of pushing through things and trying to -- you know, a bit like there's more obstacles, but in a weird way you take enjoyment by pushing through it and achieving things.

Obviously I'm not achieving what I would like, but I'm doing the doing the best I can. So I had a great match the other day. Was really happy I came through that. And, you know, a setback today, but I will obviously look at ways how I can get better.

Q. Is it a cumulative problem? Has it just got gradually worse since you've been in Paris or did you tweak it or do something significant to it during this last match?
KYLE EDMUND: No. It fluctuates. So some days it feels okay. Some days it's a little bit worse. Can fluctuate between tournaments or weeks.

It just all depends. The body is very complex. It just doesn't -- sometimes it doesn't make sense what happens but that's just the way it is, and it can be hard to predict. But of course you train and train to try to get your body in a good state and in a physically strong state so you avoid this stuff. And it prevents it, but not always easy. So with the best efforts in the world it happens to them.

So, yeah, I mean, just, yeah, it is what it is. You kind of just get on with it. You can moan about it all you want and feel sorry for yourself, but no one else is going to feel sorry for you.

Q. Have you been consulting specialists regularly about this? How much contact with actual professionals have you had or how much is it just you guys trying to manage it?
KYLE EDMUND: Not regularly, but I have seen people that are more specialized in knees.

Q. When did you last see one?
KYLE EDMUND: Probably a few months ago.

Q. I know you don't want to tell us exactly what it is but is this something that the doctors have told you will go away in the fullness of time or is it something that you've going to have to live with throughout the rest of your professional life?
KYLE EDMUND: I mean, playing the sport, when you start playing sport, if you -- basically if you scan someone's body at the end of their career, they're going to have problems with it. They're probably going to have tears in certain joints just because the load you put your body through is a lot. So, yeah, so you would have to probably live through something the rest of your career.

You look at people, I mean, it's the obvious one. You look at top professionals right now, it's something they got to the live with their whole career. That's what we do.

In terms of me, I don't think it's a big thing long-term. But when you're playing professional tennis and the speed and the physicality that you play, if something is bugging you a little bit, it makes a little bit of a difference to your performance.

So it's not -- it certainly doesn't need surgery. But until you're happy in your mind, it always sits with you a little bit funny.

Q. Would you expect the knee to be more or less of a problem on grass and what is your schedule on grass?
KYLE EDMUND: Don't know. Who knows. I haven't played with it on grass. Until I guess I get on there, I don't really know.

But, yeah, characteristics of clay and hard and grass, I think, obviously are completely different so it's kind of just how you feel.

But, yeah, we'll see. I mean, it's just about a case of looking at all avenues basically.

Q. Separate to that and just looking ahead to the grass court season it's now pretty much two years since Andy, you know, first had his issues with his hip and whatever. And when you and perhaps other British players look ahead to the grass, do you think it's sort of -- obviously there's more spotlight on you in this period that's coming up now.
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah.

Q. Do you think it makes it a little bit tougher for the likes of yourself, Cam, Dan, because Andy is not -- when he's not around because he sort of sucks up a lot of the spotlight and, you know, sort of takes a bit of the expectation away from you guys?
KYLE EDMUND: It also depends, I think, on the individual, how he perceives spotlight. A lot of time, you know, like the world we live in, the world you base yourself in, what you tell yourself and the thoughts that you tell yourself is then your perception of how you think things are going.

So if you read every article or you constantly think about I'm under pressure to win this match, everybody is watching me, then probably you're going to feel a little bit more pressure.

But as well if you kind of take it lighthearted and at the end of the day it's just a tennis match. If you lose, what happens? People say a few things about you, they say their opinion, life goes on. And the reality is they forget about it in a few weeks and a few months. So it kind of all depends how you do it. Some people have different ways of doing it.

But, yeah, like you said, there is always, from my impression, added activities in terms of a bit more media, a bit more cameras on you, a bit more sponsor things to do. So there's sort of added workload.

But, you know, we're professionals. That's what we signed up to do and we chose tennis to do it. So you can moan about it, but it kind of like makes no sense to moan about it when you think about the job you're doing at the end of the day and what you have compared to probably what other people have, and they'd probably give a lot to be in your position.

Q. How would you sum up the past eight months of your career? It's been a terrible time for you. You've had injuries, illnesses, knocked out of tournaments. How would you sum it up?
KYLE EDMUND: I wouldn't say it's been terrible. Obviously you always want to do better. You want to go deep. But people go like, oh, life's ups and downs. Just because they say it, and they feel like it actually happens.

So I'm still here. I'm still playing. I'm just not winning as much as I would like. So it's not the end of the world.

So I know certainly all of you don't feel sorry for me. It just is what it is. I'll do my best to try to be better, but you certainly don't go into -- you don't come out your room and start feel sorry and crying. You got to plow on. Otherwise, how do you expect to get better?

Q. Ten and a half weeks before Queens. What do you think you'll do in this period up until then? Will you go straight to Britain or go home to the Bahamas or what are you going to do?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it won't make sense going all the way to Bahamas to then acclimatize there to come back and play. And obviously as much time as you can before Queens, it's nice to get on the grass.

There's always difficulties when you do well. You get less preparation on the grass. So a small downside to sort of going out early in this Slam is you get more time on grass, and for sure I'll use it. I'll use it to train, try and obviously get my body right is the priority right now.

Yeah, I'll go back to England and go from there, really. And obviously look to train, but also look at ways I can avoid or stop getting hurt as much as I am.

Q. You have spoken a lot about pushing through the difficulties and getting on with it. It's a weird life that a tennis player leads? Is it enjoyable? Do you enjoy it?
KYLE EDMUND: Yes, certainly. There's a lot of upsides to it. You know, when you think of the question, do you enjoy it? Sometimes it's like, oh, I should be walking around with a smile on my face every time I step on the court, but of course it doesn't happen like that. There are difficult moments.

But in a weird kind of way when you are a tennis player or a professional player, you kind of learn to enjoy the sort of weird things, the weird things about working hard, being uncomfortable. That's what enjoyment is. The ultimate enjoyment is winning a four-hour match, you know, a true test, because that's where all the work comes in.

And of course there's things that are -- they're necessities, but you just have to get on with it. You know, like, doping turn-up at 6:00 a.m. in the morning, you could do without it, but you know it's there for a reason.

So there's things that's just part of it and you just get on with it. So I think the bigger picture is the fact you're a professional tennis player, almost living your dream that you want. And, in reality, 10 to 15 years from now, it's going to stop, so it's not going to be forever.

Q. With regards to Roland Garros, did you consider not entering and with regards to Wimbledon? Do you think expectations are sometimes set too highly for the British players?
KYLE EDMUND: No, I don't -- I mean, I've played over the last few weeks even before here, so I knew what I was going to be like coming in and it was how best I could manage that and play.

And in regards to Wimbledon, no, because this is the world we live in. Everything gets hyped up, so it's kind of normal.

People want you to do well. It's a nice thing. At the same time, if it doesn't go -- like I said earlier, if it doesn't go maybe the way people expect or plan, then they have an opinion about it, that's just the way it is.

I don't know. If someone says, "Oh, he's got a really good chance of winning Wimbledon," it's completely fine if you want to say that. So, yeah, it's pretty normal.

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