Britain may have been dealt a blow with Andy Murray’s withdrawal ahead of the tournament, but Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie have taken up the mantle in the absence of the World No.2.
Edmund was handed a tough draw against 32nd seed Robin Haase, but secured an impressive straight sets win over the Dutchman 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
Edmund was in control almost throughout breaking for leads in the first and second sets. Haase’s best spell came late in the second set when he recovered Edmund’s single break lead to return to 5-5. However, Edmund immediately broke back and served out the set at the second attempt. Edmund then added gloss to the scoreline by breaking Haase twice in the third set.
Edmund will face the United States’ Steve Johnson or Nicolas Almagro in the second round Edmund has faced the American twice before. Johnson won their only previous meeting in a grand slam, a straight sets win in the 2015 Australian Open. Edmund however levelled the head-to-head with Johnson at 1-1 with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win just a week ago in the Winston-Salem quarter-finals. Edmund has never faced Nicolas Almagro.
Cameron Norrie continued his personal record-breaking summer. The Briton won his first Challenger event, and followed that up by qualifying for his first ever grand slam main draw at this event. He defeated Russian veteran Dmitry Tursunov 7-6, 6-1 ret when injury forced the 34 year-old to end his tournament. Norrie will face 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round. Carreno Busta beat American qualifier Evan King 6-3, 6-2, 7-6.
