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Kyle Edmund in the second round of the Nature Valley International, ATP Eastbourne 2018
Kyle Edmund in the second round of the Nature Valley International, ATP Eastbourne 2018 | (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images for LTA)

ATP Winston Salem 2018 | Kyle Edmund takes on Leonardo Mayer opener

Jake Davies
Tennis

By Jake Davies

  • Kyle Edmund [3] vs Leonardo Mayer
WINSTON-SALEM, USA – Kyle Edmund makes his last stop in his preparation for the last Grand Slam of the year as he faces Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the tournament in Winston-Salem.

 

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Kyle Edmund [3] vs Leonardo Mayer H2H: First meeting

The preparation to the US Open has been good in phases for Kyle Edmund. He started off his US hard-court series with two defeats in two difficult matches to Andy Murray in Washington and to Diego Schwartzman in Toronto respectively. The British No.1 played much better in his most recent showing in the Cincinnati Masters, where he ended up losing to Denis Shapovalov in a match where he showed a lot of fight despite struggling with what looked like a stomach issue.

Edmund will sense the importance of playing well the week before this particular major. He will want more matches under his belt and more wins so he can build some big momentum going into a Grand Slam which he has decent chances to make a deep run on the hard court surface.

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Awaiting Edmund in the second round of Winston-Salem is the big-serving, hard-hitting Leonardo Mayer. The Argentine predominantly plays most of his consistent stuff on the red clay. The reason most of his success has come on that surface is because of the long take back he has on his forehand side and the red clay gives him the necessary time to unload on his big groundstrokes.

The weaknesses to the Argentine’s game really is that he can be rushed and really struggles to find a competent defensive game when he is pushed on the back foot. When he is in control he can be tough to live with, but Edmund should be able to dictate a lot of the points with his forehand side and really push Mayer into positions he is not comfortable in on the court. Another key for the Brit will be to start the match off very well, because Mayer is the sort of player that really is a confidence player. Mayer can win a sequence of games and go on a bit of a roll, but he is a player that really can doubt his own game in the big moments and that is something Edmund will have to look out for in this encounter.

Prediction: Edmund in straight sets

 

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