US Open 2016: Kyle Edmund through to US Open third round
| US Open |
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| Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 29 August-11 September |
| Coverage: Live radio commentary on Radio 5 live sports extra from 22:00 BST plus live text coverage on selected matches on the BBC Sport website. |
Britain’s Kyle Edmund beat American wild card Ernesto Escobedo at the US Open to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Edmund, 21, followed up his first-round win over 13th seed Richard Gasquet with another confident display as he came through 7-5 6-4 6-4.
The Yorkshireman, ranked 84th in the world, will play American 20th see John Isner in the last 32.
Briton Johanna Konta beat Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2 5-7 6-2.
Compatriots Andy Murray, Dan Evans and Naomi Broady play their second-round matches on Thursday.
I stayed tough – Edmund
Edmund looked to have been handed a golden opportunity facing Escobedo in the second round, but the world number 201 made him work for it.
With both men struggling to find their first serve, Edmund saw off some real pressure before edging the first set and saw six break points slip by in the second.
Some brilliant Edmund defence earned a seventh chance, and prompted Escobedo to smash his racquet, and the Briton secured a two-set lead after an hour and a half.
With the humidity providing as much discomfort as the heat, there was every reason for Edmund to keep up the pressure and push for a straight-sets win, but the third set was another gruelling contest.
It was Edmund’s sixth break point of the set – and 16th of the match – when he finally made the breakthrough before confidently serving it out.
“I’m very pleased, a lot of good things today,” Edmund told Eurosport.
“I thought I played a much cleaner match, a lot of things went better for me against Gasquet. This was about toughing out more longer rallies, I made a few more errors, but you can’t be too tough on yourself.
“I thought every set I stayed tough, and when it counted towards the end I got the break.”