Edmund Beats Seppi to Win New York Open Title

February 17, 2020 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Edmund
Photo Credit: Pat Mosquera

 

It started at the New York Tennis Expo and finished on center court at trophy presentation, and Kyle Edmund will always remember his week on Long Island.

The 62nd ranked man from Great Britain captured the New York Open singles title inside NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, defeating Italy’s Andreas Seppi 7-5, and leaving New York with his second career ATP Tour title. 

“When I get things going in my way, and put my game up on court and really what the two or three things I do very well and really concentrate on that and take them up to a big level that’s when I become a better player, more dangerous play, and that’s what I did this week,” said Edmund, who began his week taking part in a Q&A during the New York Tennis Expo on the tournament’s opening day. “I was very aggressive, and in key moments I didn’t give opponents opportunities, and established my authority as much as I could.”

He would put down his authority late in the first set against Seppi in the finals. With both players trading holds of serve through the first 11 games of the opener, Edmund got the first real look at a break when he went ahead 40-15 as Seppi was serving to force a tiebreak. He would capitalize on it, hitting a blistering backhand winner up the line to secure the break and win the first set

“Winning the first sets in matches always helps, but in the final, when you get that sort of first stamp of authority, you get a leg up in the match–it always helps. It forces the opponent to come up with answers to get back at you,” said Edmund. “You don’t have to force the issue as much, you just really have to keep that momentum going. And I knew winning that first set, and breaking him, I would have to serve first in the second set and be in the lead.”

That’s just what Edmund would do. After holding to open up the second set, the eighth-seed broke Seppi to establish the early advantage in the second set. Later in the set, Edmund would break one more time following a long rally to jump ahead 5-1. 

He then calmly held serve to win the second tour-level title of his career. 

“I had one I thought back to,” Edmund said of his goals for this year. “I won three matches at the end of last year, but I hadn’t won four matches in a row for awhile. So that was goal, just to win four matches in a row. The I won four in a row, I was like, ‘Ok, let’s make it five’, which I hadn’t done in awhile. Obviously, winning titles is always a goal. In terms of ranking, it was just to get high up the rankings. That doesn’t just happen. You have to cut it down and look at how can we get high up the rankings, and that’s by just winning matches.”

Playing a dominant week and winning matches will certainly be reflected in the rankings, and Edmund has shot up 17 spots up to 45th in the world thanks to his week on Long Island. He earned $120,635 for his title.

 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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