Britain’s Kyle Edmund has had a less than ideal run of form ahead of The Championships at Wimbledon. The British No.2 suffered his second straight defeat on the grass by losing to the United States’ Donald Young 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in Eastbourne.
Edmund had also lost in the first round of Queen’s to Denis Shapovalov in three close sets. Young had suffered five straight defeats since a good run at the American Masters in March. He found some form again at Queen’s, earning wins against Nick Kyrgios and Viktor Troicki.
In other early Eastbourne results Kevin Anderson eased past Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci 6-1, 6-3. Anderson is a former Queen’s finalist and the tall South African had little trouble in taking down the clay specialist Bellucci.
Jared Donaldson will face his compatriot Young in the second round but he didn’t have the easiest of matches against eighth seed Diego Schwartzmann. Schwartzmann, at 5’7, can struggle to use his serve effectively, a severe handicap on grass.
The Argentine is more comfortable on clay, having taken Novak Djokovic to five sets in the recent Roland Garros. Donaldson won 7-6, 3-6, 7-5. The American was forced to save a match point when serving at 4-5 in the decider, but came through and finished the match by winning the final three games.
Canada’s Vasek Pospisil took down Czech left-hander Jiri Vesely in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to set up a meeting with top seed Novak Djokovic. The Serbian is playing his first event since his quarter-final loss to Dominic Thiem at Roland Garros.
