By Jake Davies

• Kyle Edmund [21] vs Frances Tiafoe

MIAMI, USA – Both British No. 1’s are in action this week, and Kyle Edmund finally gets his campaign underway.

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Kyle Edmund [21] vs Frances Tiafoe | First Meeting

The newly-crowned British No.1 Kyle Edmund competes in just his second singles match since reaching the Australian Open semi-finals, the first of his career to date. After struggling through injury and a bout of illness, Edmund will be looking for his first singles win since then after being beat at Indian Wells to Israel’s Dudi Sela.

We are now moving into a new phase of Edmund’s career now he is the British No.1 – more expectation from himself and from the people following his career, so it will be interesting to see his progression particularly in this season as he continues to try to push his career to even greater heights.

Photo by AP/REX/Shutterstock
Frances Tiafoe, Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati 2017

He faces the in-form American Frances Tiafoe first, who has been one of the players to beat in these parts of the world. Tiafoe captured the first ATP title of his career when he won the Delray Beach title last month, beating his idol Juan Martin Del Potro, Australian Open semi-finalist Hyeon Chung and Denis Shapovalov along the way.

So what does Edmund have to look out for as these two go head-to-head? The one question is whether Edmund can have a decent day of returning. Tiafoe is the type of player that looks to roll through his service games at a quick pace and sometimes can reel through big, quick serves in one minute games, so that is something to look out for. Tiafoe also holds an extreme grip on his forehand side, which can be taken advantage of if you go there with pace. The Tiafoe backhand is very, very flat and he refuses to make the necessary adjustments even when in unfavourable positions, so subsequently nets a lot of his shots from that side, so Edmund has to play aggressive, forceful tennis to get the job done today and stop Tiafoe’s dominance in Florida.

Prediction: Edmund in three sets

Main Image: Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

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