Kyle Edmund’s Australian Open run ends in defeat to Marin Cilic

Kyle Edmund’s superb run at the Australian Open came to end with a heartbreaking semi-final defeat by Marin Cilic on Thursday.

The 23-year-old Yorkshireman had never previously been beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam but a brilliant campaign in Melbourne was halted in the final four, as Cilic strode to a comfortable 6-2 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 victory on Rod Laver Arena.

Edmund, the world No 49 heading into the Australian Open, was shouldering British hopes due to Andy Murray’s injury absence and had previously seen off US Open finalist Kevin Anderson and third seed Grigor Dimitrov.

He was looking to join Murray and John Lloyd as the only British male singles finalists at Melbourne Park in the Open era

But Cilic, the sixth seed, proved a bridge too far and the Croatian, a former winner of the US Open, succeeded where other opponents had failed in nullifying Edmund’s forehand to reach Sunday’s final where he will play Roger Federer or young Korean Hyeon Chung in the final.

Cilic, speaking afterwards in his on-court interview, predicted big things for Edmund, saying: “He’s playing great tennis. The last couple of years he’s improved a lot and started great this year. He had an extremely tough run to the semis, a couple of five-setters and a couple of four-setters as well. Definitely it left some scars on his body. I can feel that too, but definitely he’s got a bright future in the game and we’re going to be seeing him a lot.”

Cilic, 29, breezed through the first set in little more than half an hour before Edmund required a medical time-out – those early physical struggles continued to hamper him throughout.

However, Edmund was fired up at 2-2 in the second set by an umpire’s call and forced a tie-break but, when Cilic persevered, it became an uphill struggle for the Brit.

A pinpoint backhand winner by Cilic put him 5-2 up in the third set, and teed him up to seal a spot in the final.

“In the second set I was up and down with my game, not getting enough returns back and he started to serve quite well and release his forehands,” said the Croatian.

“But I just stayed mentally very focused and tried to play every single point. It was extremely crucial in the tie-break to keep that pressure.”

Edmund was expected to overtake Murray as Britain’s No 1 ranked player if he had reached the Australian Open final but can still expect his ATP ranking to soar into the top 25 when the latest rankings are announced on Monday.

(c) Sky News 2018: Kyle Edmund’s Australian Open run ends in defeat to Marin Cilic