KYLE EDMUND’S historic run ended in semi-final heartache as he fell 6-2 7-6 6-2 to big Marin Cilic.
The British No 2 let no-one down, including himself, but did not play as well as he had in previous rounds or as well as he needed to against the 2014 US Open champion.
Marin Cilic roars in celebration as he beat Kyle Edmund to reach the Australian Open final
Cilic deserves huge credit for taking away Edmund’s biggest weapon, his forehand, by hitting the ball hard and flat to his backhand and generally keeping him on the back foot.
But the tired-looking Brit, who received medical treatment after the first set, did not win enough points on serve and made too many unforced errors.
In fact, Edmund put very little pressure on Cilic after a promising first game which yielded his only break points of the evening.
Cilic is not pretty to watch, but he is pretty effective. Like a tennis Terminator, he will not stop, he just keeps on going, putting balls in play and his opponent on the defensive.
Kyle Edmund was playing in his first career Grand Slam semi-final
So the 29 year old will contest the third Grand Slam final of his career on Sunday, against either Hyeon Chung or Roger Federer.
If the latter, it would give him the chance to avenge his Wimbledon agony of last year when a severe blister left him unable to compete with Federer in the tournament climax.
CORNET BAN? French star facing two-year ban for missing three drug tests
Edmund started confidently enough.
Two big forehands and some nice hands earned him the first point and moments later he held two break points. But in what would become a familiar pattern, Cilic produced two monster serves to avert the danger.
Edmund lost his cool as he disputed a line call early in the second set
From then on, the tall Croat grew and grew in confidence. His huge groundstrokes, particularly on the forehand, were giving Edmund no time to run around the backhand which his opponent was targeting.
The Brit could also make no impression on the Cilic serve. The pressure soon told, as he was broken first in the sixth game and then again in the eighth to lose the opening set in 36 minutes.
Marin Cilic pays tribute to Kyle Edmund
“He’s playing great tennis. The last couple of years he has improved a lot and he started great this year.
“He had an extremely tough run to the semis, couple of five-setters, couple of four-setters. It definitely left some scars on his body.
“I noticed that in the third game of the third set when I boke him, he just let a couple of balls go past him.
“I could see that his movement was a little bit restricted so I tried to move the ball around.
“He’s got a bright future. We are going to be seeing him a lot around.”
To add to the bad feeling, Edmund then left the arena for a medical timeout.
He had received treatment on court three times during the tournament on his right shoulder and back, but this appeared to be something new.
When he returned, Edmund seemed a little more confident and soon employed what you might call a classic Andy Murray tactic: pick a fight and use it as fuel.
Edmund was unhappy in the fifth game that Cilic was given the point when Hawk-Eye showed the Croat’s serve had gone in, not out as the line judge had called.
Most read in sport
The Brit argued with umpire John Blom before saying: “Get the referee, I’m not having it, it’s rubbish.”
He then gave referee Andreas Egli a piece of his mind, too, but when the decision stood, he walked away with a dismissive wave of his hand.
The crowd was mostly on Edmund’s side and roared when two winners put him 15/30 ahead. But Cilic shut the door again.
Edmund’s best hope looked like a tiebreak, especially when a chance to put pressure on the Cilic serve came and went in the ninth game.
But an unfortunate line call, which ended prematurely a rally that Edmund was very much in, helped Cilic to a 7-4 win.
Something needed to change, and fast. Nothing did.
Cilic continued to offer no reasons to be cheerful and Edmund went on failing to find a way to impose himself.
When a tired forehand nestled in the net to give Cilic a break in the third game, the end was nigh.
Edmund kept trying but he looked spent as he struggled to move quickly enough to get balls back and to put much on them when he did.
Cilic decisively broke his resistance in a long seventh game which earned him the right to serve for the match.
The 6ft 6in tennis machine had made very few mistakes all night and he didn’t start then.
Leave a comment