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US Open: Kyle Edmund on returning to Grand Slam singles tennis after knee injury

Kyle Edmund

Kyle Edmund has not played a Grand Slam singles match since the 2020 US Open
Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Date: 29 August-11 September
Coverage: Daily radio commentaries across BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app, with selected live text commentaries and match reports on the website and app

Returning to the tennis world has given Kyle Edmund that sort of weird feeling you get when you’ve not been somewhere for a while.

You know the one. Like being the new kid at school again.

Edmund, 27, was away from the ATP Tour for almost two years because of a serious knee injury that left him wondering if he would ever return.

Three operations later, and after hours of rehab and soul-searching, the 2018 Australian Open semi-finalist is gearing up for his Grand Slam singles comeback when the US Open starts on Monday.

“It does feel a little bit like I’m starting my career all over again,” said Edmund, who plays Norwegian fifth seed Casper Ruud about 18:00 BST after entering the main draw thanks to a protected injury ranking.

“The first few weeks when I played tournaments, it felt strange to be around the venues and just doing the tournament thing again.

“Like, the little things of waking up on match days, getting on the bus, practising, eating, – the routine. All those that I’ve done all my career and then I hadn’t; it took a bit of getting used to again.

“It has been a positive, of course, and it is nice to be here again. When you’re away from it so long you realise what you did have and then what you didn’t.”

What Edmund did have a few years ago was a ranking inside the world’s top 20 and the status of being Britain’s leading men’s player.

The memorable run to the Melbourne semi-finals, including victory over then world number three Grigor Dimitrov before defeat by eventual runner-up Marin Cilic, catapulted him up the rankings and pushed the reserved Yorkshireman into a limelight he has never seemed entirely comfortable with.

The plan, clearly, was not to disappear from public view for a large chunk of what are often a player’s peak years.

Despite the anxiety about whether his body would allow him to return, and the drying up of regular income, Edmund has eventually been able to be reflective.

“I’d say from being out I’ve learned things about myself. And I’ve never been in that position before. You learn things about yourself, how you react in certain situations,” he said.

“The feelings I had of being upset and frustrated, being down and the worrying, I never…

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