Kyle Edmund, who turns 21 in January, will make his Davis Cup debut in the final against Belgium here on Friday, while bearing the added burden of Great Britain’s ambition to win the title for the first time in 79 years.
The team captain, Leon Smith, upheld his pledge to carry the all-for-one ethic that has characterised the British campaign right through to the end by leaving the door open for James Ward to play the final rubber on Sunday if Edmund’s debut against Belgium’s faraway best player, the world No16, David Goffin, goes horribly wrong in the first match of the tie.
No debutant has won a live rubber in a Davis Cup final and Edmund, ranked 100 in the world, is older by only two days than was the youngest ever to appear, the Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu – who pointedly was two sets up before losing the deciding five-setter against Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in 2002. This is the sort of mounting pressure that will either reveal Edmund’s true qualities, or overwhelm him. Yet he did not sound even slightly nervous on Thursday.
“It’s my first match of the Davis Cup for my country,” he said matter-of-factly shortly after the teams were announced at the venue, the cavernous Flanders Expo on the edge of Ghent – which happens to have a roof a few centimetres short of the required height.
Edmund, who moved from Johannesburg to Beverley with his family at the age of three, added: “It’s exciting itself, the fact it’s a final. At the same time it’s a team event and the team comes first. My job is to give my best and give my all. The ultimate goal is obviously to put the point on the board for Great Britain.”
If the 20-year-old wins, it will be a considerable bonus; if he drives Goffin to five sets, he will also have served the cause by sending a perhaps tired opponent into the first reverse singles on Sunday, against Andy Murray.
Murray, the world No2 who has prioritised this final all summer, plays the second singles on Friday against Ruben Bemelmans, which ought to be a banker. The world No108, who has won eight and lost 11 matches for his country in seven years, was surprisingly preferred to Belgium’s second-best player, the 84th-ranked Steve Darcis, whose recovery from injury may not be complete.
Andy and Jamie Murray will play Darcis and Kimmer Coppejans (ranked 128 in singles) in the doubles on Saturday, leaving no place for Britain’s doubles specialist Dominic Inglot.
Smith, who has invigorated the British squad since his appointment as captain five years ago, has every faith in Edmund after seeing him perform well on clay in South America earlier this month but also knows that Ward, who has been heroic in the tailgunner role for the team, may be ideal insurance in the final singles on Sunday against Bemelmens.
“It was always going to be a difficult decision who started the weekend,” Smith said. “The good thing that coincided with this tie was that the No2 singles players had all come into good form. James won a challenger in India, Kyle had won a challenger in South America. It was a really good situation to be in.
“I think where Kyle’s ranking sits now – and he’s very comfortable on this surface – is why we’re starting that way. But still, it was a very difficult decision.”
Murray will have had a considerable say in selection (although that is never the party line) and said he has been impressed with Edmund in training this week. “He’s playing extremely well,” said the Scot.
