Britain’s Kyle Edmund caused a major upset on day one of the US Open as he swept aside 13 seed Richard Gasquet of France to reach round two at Flushing Meadows in NY.
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Former world No7 Gasquet, who has been plagued with a back problem this summer, simply had no answer to Edmund’s destructive forehand as the 21-year-old Yorkshireman chalked up the biggest win of his career. “Those experiences definitely do help, and I think I’m getting some good ones now”.
Richard Gasquet, the first seeded player to lose at the U.S. Open, summed up his quick exit this way: “Not sure I could do worse”.
“It’s very pleasing and very encouraging the way I played, the way I handled myself and dealt with situations”.
“I’m obviously extremely happy”. “He’s good to have around”.
He will take on American Ernesto Escobedo in the second round after Escobedo advanced past Lukas Lacko, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 (ret.).
The demolition took just one hour and 41 minutes, with Edmund topping his previous best victory, in terms of ranking, over world No. 18 Gilles Simon at Queen’s. That is coming. every day (I) feel the wrist a little bit better. The 2014 champion hit just 23 winners over the three sets but was aggressive on his return, converting on six of 14 break points and losing just two of his own service games in the match. You see a few things you pick up. Maybe on paper he’s not as high ranked as someone like Gasquet but you have to respect the opponents.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal is up and running at the US Open after a straight-sets win in the first round against Denis Istomin.
He looked equally calm as he breezed through the second set, even breaking Gasquet to love to clinch his 6-2 6-2 lead.
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Gasquet provided a slight scare when he broke Edmund’s serve early in the third set.
