Kyle Edmund set up a tantalising third round clash with three-time champion Novak Djokovic with a straight sets victory over American qualifier Bradley Klahn on Centre Court.
Britain’s last remaining hope of success in the singles, Edmund followed Johanna Konta’s dismal defence against Dominika Cibulkova with a comprehensive 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 defeat of leftie Klahn, who was no match for the powerful hitting of Edmund.
The No.22 seed won’t have things so easy against Novak Dojokovic, one of the greatest returners tennis has seen, but he will not want for support from a Wimbledon crowd that are showing signs of warming to Edmund.
Prior to his win over Yuichi Sugita Klahn had not played a single Grand Slam match since 2014 and the pressure of a Centre Court appearance was clearly affecting the 27-year-old American early on as he struggled with a string of double faults and a rusty forehand. Edmund took the set 6-4 but it was an even more commanding opening win than that would suggest.
Not till the second did Klahn begin to find his range, the lefty’s skidding serve and whipping forehand too much for Edmund to even get a sniff of a break until the ninth game, where the world No.168 held on against a barrage of forehands.
Having forced a tiebreak Klahn fell apart, failing to register so much as a point and finding Edmund’s hefty serve even more challenging than usual.
Klahn was similarly guilty of undoing fine work in the third, when a double fault and a bizarre decision to leave an Edmund shot that was comfortably on the baseline allowed the Brit to claim the break he needed, setting up what promises to be the tie of the week against 12th seed Djokovic.
