That high, however, was followed by a first-round loss in Toronto, a second-round exit at the Rio Olympics and a failure to make it out of qualifying at the Cincinnati Masters.
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He looked equally calm as he breezed through the second set, even breaking Gasquet to love to clinch his 6-2 6-2 lead.
The Briton, 21, will face Lukas Lacko or Ernesto Escobedo in round two.
But he has never won a Grand Slam match anywhere else – and given that this is his first appearance in NY, it would be an incredible coup for the South African-born star.
The 21-year-old Edmund, who is ranked 84 in the world, was making his debut in the main draw at Flushing Meadows and produced one of the performances of his career in sweeping aside the experienced Frenchman, a semi-finalist in this tournament in 2013.
The world number 84 put on an impressive display to seal a 6-2 6-2 6-3 win in one hour and 42 minutes at Flushing Meadows in NY.
Gasquet nonetheless broke early in the third, but that was wiped out when Edmund hit a stunning forehand pass down the line on the run to level for 3-3.
“I played really well, went about my process and didn’t really worry about who I was playing”.
“I don’t know the reason why the ITF changed that”, Edmund said. I probably played better than I expected today.
“There are a lot of contenders for the title so I will take it step by step”.
“I played really well”.
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Gasquet said it was a lack of matches rather than his back which was his problem, as well as the powerful play of Edmund. I beat some good players, I beat Simon and then had a good experience against Andy (at Queen’s).
