Former British No.1 and world No.14 Kyle Edmund decides to call time on his tennis career
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Former British No.1 Kyle Edmund has announced his retirement from professional tennis, effective immediately.
A good sports all-rounder, Kyle first picked up a racket at the relatively late age of 10 on the courts of Beverley and East Riding Lawn Tennis Club in Yorkshire, beginning a 20-year journey with the sport that saw him scale many highs and later deal with adversity trying to overcome injury challenges.
Edmund was part of the historic first British team to win the junior Davis Cup in 2011, won two junior Grand Slam doubles titles a year later and made his ATP Tour debut in 2013 at Queen’s, finishing the year inside the top 400.
Twelve months later he cut his ranking in half and 2015 saw him qualify for the Australian and French Open for the first time, claim three ATP Challenger singles titles, and end the year as part of the winning Davis Cup team (Britain’s first success in 79 years), narrowly falling in five sets to world No.16 David Goffin after breaking into the Top 100 himself.
Davis Cup and representing his country (including the 2016 Olympics) was something Edmund was always immensely proud of, including leading Britain to success over Serbia in the 2016 quarter-finals, and reaching the 2019 semi-finals in Madrid where he won all his singles matches over Kazakhstan, Germany and Spain.
In individual competition, his main highlights included:
- Winning two ATP singles titles (in 2018 Antwerp and 2020 New York Open)
- Becoming only the second Brit after Sir Andy Murray since 1978 to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open (one of eight men in the Open Era to reach the last four of a major after Roger Taylor, John Lloyd, Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman, Cam Norrie and Jack Draper) beating world No.3 Grigor Dimitrov in the last eight
- Defeating Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in 2018 Madrid – his only win in six meetings against arguably the greatest male player of all-time
- Reaching a career-best No.14 in the world in October 2018 and British No.1 for 19 months starting in March 2018
Reflecting on these achievements, the Yorkshire-man said: “Of course there are certain moments that stick out, whether it was winning the junior Davis Cup in 2011, the junior Grand Slam doubles victories and making my Davis Cup debut when we won the final in 2015.
"I look back at that very fondly now, and the runs to the semi-finals in 2016 and 19, it was always an immense privilege to represent my country, including being an Olympian. The Australian Open semi-final and my two ATP Tour victories in Antwerp and at the New York Open were also very special.”
Unfortunately just as he reached the highest point in his career, left knee issues started plaguing Edmund, and two years later in November 2020 still ranked inside the top 50, he underwent the first of three knee surgeries, keeping him off the Tour for 21 months.
Despite winning his opening round match in Washington DC, he struggled to get wins at ATP Tour level, losing nine matches in a row before focusing on ITF and ATP Challenger level in 2023-24. He did manage to win back-to-back domestic titles on the LTA’s Performance Competitions Calendar in Loughborough and Sunderland at the start of last season and improved his singles ranking 300 spots inside the world’s top 350, however bigger success eluded him.
Finally last month after reaching the first ATP Challenger final of his comeback in Nottingham on 13 July to Jack Pinnington-Jones 6-4, 7-6(1), Edmund decided that was the time to call time on his tennis career.
Explaining his decision to retire, Edmund said: “The last five years have taken a toll with three surgeries and other injuries such as wrist, ab, hip and foot in trying to get better, my body is telling me its finally reached the end point. Looking back I can say I tried my absolute best in my career and my hardest to get back to where I was. There are no regrets whatsoever. I have always been quite a determined person and I have no doubt I’ll apply those principles that I learned in my tennis career to whatever I do next and something I’m very excited about.”
Kyle also paid tribute to the role his family played in supporting his career: “My parents and my sister have been hugely influential in my career. The person that I am today and how I carried myself on and off the court is a reflection of my mum and dad and how they brought me up. I’m hugely grateful to them for being so supportive, never pushing me, encouraging and teaching me to be self-motivated.
"Of course there have been many coaches along the way too and it’s impossible to shine a light on just a few, just to say thanks to all of them.”
LTA Chief Executive Scott Lloyd said: “I want to congratulate Kyle on a professional career which delivered many outstanding and memorable achievements. Through his quiet determination and sheer hard work both on and off the court, he reached British No.1, a career-high of No.14 in the world, the last four of the Australian Open and played a key role in our Davis Cup semi-final runs in 2016 and 2019, after also being on the winning team in 2015.
"These represent just a few highlights of his career demonstrating his incredible talent. Everyone at the LTA and the whole British tennis family wishes him the very best in the next chapter of his life.”
