Queen's 2016: Kyle Edmund stuns French seed Gilles Simon
Britain’s Kyle Edmund earned the best win of his career as he beat French eighth seed Gilles Simon in the first round at Queen’s Club.
Edmund, 21, won 6-4 3-6 6-1 to join fellow Britons Andy Murray and Aljaz Bedene in round two of the Aegon Championships.
He will next face Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who beat Britain’s Dan Evans 7-6 (10-8) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3.
“I really got my game on court and took it to him.” Edmund told BBC Sport.
It is the first time Britain has had three players through to the second round since Murray, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski did so in 2005.
Breakthrough win for Edmund
Simon, 31, is ranked 67 places higher than Edmund at 18 in the world but was second best for most of their delayed match, struggling badly with his ball toss on serve.
Edmund took advantage of a solitary service break to take the first set and led by a break early in the second, only to hand it straight back.
Simon looked to have taken charge when he clinched the second set but Edmund turned the contest around early in the third.
Facing three break points at 0-40, the Yorkshireman played superbly to win five straight points and – after a brief rain delay – powered through the remaining four games, sealing victory with a sweeping backhand.
“I thought in the back end of the second set I had a bit of a mental lapse, I played a sloppy game to get broken, so I was just trying to concentrate on what I was doing before,” added Edmund.
Evans, ranked 92nd could not make it four Britons in round two despite pushing world number 60 Mathieu.
The 26-year-old from Solihull failed to convert three set points in the first set, edged a similarly tight second in a tie-break, but one break was enough for Mathieu in the decider.
I had a lot of chances in all the sets,” said Evans.”It’s just a missed opportunity I think. It was a tight match and I came out on the wrong side.”
McEnroe helps Raonic past Kyrgios
Canada’s Milos Raonic won the serving duel with Australian Nick Kyrgios to clinch a 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4 victory.
The pair resumed at one set all after they ran out of light on Tuesday evening, and a final set tie-break appeared inevitable until the Kyrgios serve faltered.
Two double-faults handed Raonic an unexpected break at 4-4 and, after falling 15-40 behind, the third seed served his way out of trouble.
Raonic has brought John McEnroe into his coaching team during the grass-court season, and said the three-time Wimbledon champion is a keen practice partner.
“He’s been on the court the whole time,” said Raonic. “It’s been a lot of fun, he’s very competitive and it’s obviously benefiting me as well.”
Elsewhere American seventh seed John Isner hit 25 aces on his way to a 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 win over former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.