Edmund becomes Number One
By Atharv, Sports Staff Writer
You may know about the famous tennis player Andy Murray, and how he was the best British tennis player. However, another player has taken his top spot after Murray’s unstoppable 12-year reign.
Kyle Edmund had previously rose to 24th in the world due to him managing to reach the semi—finals of the Australian Open but has now taken the position of the best British tennis player in the world, replacing Andy Murray. Murray had been suffering from a hip injury due to a prior tennis match last July. Murray had to have hip surgery and this meant that he couldn’t continue to participate in tournaments. Murray’s ranking has now dropped to 29th in the world. This means the space as the top player in Britain was free for another Brit to snatch.
Andy was determined to be back on the court in 2017, but the hip injury seemed to be more damaging than he first perceived. He asked many hip specialists on what could be done, but they were not able to repair Andy’s hip as fast as he would have preferred. While Andy was in hospital, Edmund’s rank was slowly rising further and further upwards. The 23-year-old played exceptionally well, reaching the final four in the Australian Open. This moved him up to the 2nd best player in Britain. Once Murray was put out of action, Edmund was officially the best player in Britain.
Edmund has also recently been put out of action in January but recovered rather quickly to play the Masters 1000s event. Edmund hopes for Murray to get better. He quoted “As proud as I am, I would have been much happier if Andy stayed healthy and occupied his place at the top where he really belongs.” Murray is set to be back in action before the grass-court season begins. Some speculate that Edmund is a player who could potentially win a Grand slam. John Lloyd, a BBC Sport pundit, quoted “I think he’s got a very good shot at being top 10.”