BRITAIN’S Kyle Edmund pulled off the first shock of the US Open and secured the biggest win of his career as he knocked out 13th seed Richard Gasquet in straight sets.
Edmund was playing his first ever match in the main draw at Flushing Meadows but it was the 21-year-old who looked the seasoned campaigner, thrashing Frenchman Gasquet 6-2 6-2 6-3 to reach the second round.
He will now face either American Ernesto Escobedo or Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko, giving him a very realistic chance of making round three.
Gasquet, a former world number seven and three-time grand slam semi-finalist, has been plagued by a back problem this summer but while the 30-year-old may not have been fully fit, he was also outplayed by a brilliant Edmund display.
The world number 84 was as bold from the baseline as his luminous yellow outfit, reeling off 40 winners to his opponent’s 13, with his booming forehand particularly destructive.
He made an early statement of intent with a sweeping backhand down the line but it was the forehand Gasquet could not handle as Edmund seized an early break for 3-1 and then a second to seal the set in 27 minutes.
Gasquet was shell-shocked, unable to live with his opponent’s aggression, and when another driving backhand into the corner put Edmund two sets up, an upset looked on the cards.
Both players went off for a comfort break at the start of the third, as Gasquet perhaps tried to plot a comeback, but while the veteran injected more variety into his game thereafter, the resistance was short-lived..
Gasquet started to boil over, slamming the ball away in frustration towards the end, as Edmund broke and then sealed victory with an ace, wrapping up his surprise demolition in one hour and 41 minutes.
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