KYLE EDMUND took his incredible win with a big pinch of salt.
Because that is what he needed to help his body recover from more than 3½-hours and five sets of gladiatorial combat with Nikoloz Basilashvili in 104F heat.
The British No 2, who barely had the energy to celebrate his third-round triumph, said: “I was in the ice bath for ten minutes. I’ve stretched, eaten and am trying to drink as much as I can. Everyone’s different in how they sweat.
“As it turns out I’m quite a salty sweater.
“You could see on my shirt it had white lines on it — that’s the salt drying up.
“So when I eat food I always put a lot of salt on it, especially after matches like this because you’ve got to replace it.”
But there is no easy way of topping up the “heart, guts, courage” — the words of Davis Cup captain Leon Smith — that it took for Edmund to achieve this remarkable win.
Andy Murray, who stayed up past 4am UK time to watch his protege, called it the “biggest win” of Edmund’s career — better even than his first-round, five-set defeat of world No 12 Kevin Anderson, his highest-ranked victim to date.
KYLE HIGH CLUB Australian Open 2018: Kyle Edmund defies heat and Nikoloz Basilashvili to claim brilliant, brave victory
Edmund, 23, added: “It’s definitely up there, for sure.
“The physical test made it a great, great win for me.
“Best-of-five sets in that kind of heat was really good for my career and confidence going forward, for sure.
“The fact I was down like that and came through a lot of tough moments is really good for me. I showed good character to come through that.”
Edmund’s tennis was not great at times, especially in the seven-game losing streak when he went from a set and a break up to being on the way to falling two-one behind.
But the ridiculous conditions — “it’s a professional sport, it’s meant to hurt,” said Yorkshireman Edmund — meant this was about survival.
When he won the 20-minute, mini-epic second game of the fourth set, converting his eighth break point after 15 deuces, it was a key moment. But as he said: “The whole of that fifth set, the finish line seemed so far away.”
Edmund (left with an ice towel) still had to keep holding serve in the stifling heat, with his body telling him to give up, until Basilashvili blinked first in the shootout.
A 17th double fault, followed by a backhand into the net, and the Brit had won.
Edmund has already matched his best Grand Slam display by reaching the fourth round.
Tomorrow he will play Andreas Seppi, who won his own epic match 9-7 in the fifth against Ivo Karlovic, for a place in the quarter-finals.
Eurosport pundit John McEnroe said: “Having seen Edmund in the past struggle physically in these big, long matches, it looks like he’s made a huge step forward.
“He’s looking better than I’ve ever seen him. Bouncing back from 2-1 down in two matches is extremely impressive.
“He obviously works hard and it looks like he’s got himself physically and mentally where he needs to be.
“This win was one of his biggest because this heat is brutal and a year ago he would’ve cramped up and gone away.”
Smith, who was courtside for the whole Basilashvili contest, has no reason to think he would fold under the pressure of reaching the last eight.
Having given Edmund his Davis Cup debut in the 2015 final against Belgium, Smith said: “He has played a lot of big matches, he has been on the Tour for a while, he has had those Davis Cup moments that are not necessarily bigger crowds but the final was.
“The Anderson win was a big step forward because I think he is getting a belief that he belongs.
“He’s well prepared, he’s a good lad in a really good headspace and he’s got game.
“If he can match what we saw today and against Anderson, the guts, fight, composure, with his weapons, it’s a good formula.”
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Add a sprinkling of salt, and who knows what is possible?
But Edmund expects a stern test from Italian Seppi, 33, who took out Roger Federer in 2015 and home favourite Nick Kyrgios last year.
He said: “I played him once in Antwerp and beat him in straight sets, I did pretty well.
“He’s a guy who works off timing. He doesn’t have a huge amount of firepower but in these conditions the ball flies through anyway, so I think he really likes to time the ball and get it through the court.”
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