Q. Tremendous start, then it all changed. What happened, in your eyes?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, I started very well. Yeah, obviously not playing a Davis Cup match, I was nervous naturally. I was just trying to focus on trying to block out the atmosphere, the occasion, and just play tennis, which is something I do every day. I hit thousands and thousands of balls. It couldn’t have gone any better. As you say, it turned. Yeah, I mean, the third set he started to get on top of me. Then, yeah, things started to fall away. In the fourth set I was struggling physically, and in the fifth set. It was just disappointing that my body couldn’t hold up the way I would have liked it to.
At the same time, looking at the positives, I did my best. My debut, I played very well in the Final for Great Britain. It’s obviously disappointing for me personally, but lots of positives to take away from it.
Q. Can you describe your emotions at the end.
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, at the end I was very upset, like, emotionally. Yeah, doing something you love, you know, it’s your job, it’s something you do every day, you put a lot of time and effort into it, so you take it very seriously and you become emotionally attached to it. Yeah, this is a very unique atmosphere. It’s something I never played in. So it’s a whole new experience for me. Yeah, sometimes it’s just something different I’m not used to. When I do look back, yeah, I gave it my best. I was dominating the first two sets. He couldn’t get near me. He turned that, and that’s something I need to learn from. So, yeah, obviously I’m disappointed that I couldn’t do it for the team, but it’s one of the most important experiences I’ll have, I think.
Q. Could you tell us a bit more about what was going on physically. Do you feel you could be mentally and physically ready for a fifth rubber if it came to that?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, my legs just started to get tired. I could just feel them straining a bit. Yeah, my legs started cramping a bit. I just lost a bit of confidence in my movement. Pushing off every time I was serving and landing, it was just getting really tight. Yeah, obviously it affects your mind on the match.
But, yeah, you’ve got to do something about it, but you can’t do anything about it in the match. You’ve got to deal with it. It’s one of those things. It’s the same for both players.
Yeah, I unfortunately was a bit thrown off by that. But, yeah, in the third set I was fine, and he won the third. There was a momentum shift anyway. I was hoping to obviously get that back in the fourth. Yeah, in the fourth set I started to physically just not keep up.
Q. Because you weren’t expected to win today, that would have been more than a point almost in the format the way it is. You were emotional at the end. Is it because you realized how big a thing it would have been if you managed to cross the line?
KYLE EDMUND: Well, on paper I was not meant to win. But we’re playing on a clay court. That’s the way I look at it. I believed I could win. You could see that the way I was going in the first two sets, I knew I could win. I knew I had the game to beat him and I was playing well enough.
So, yeah, I mean, that’s probably why I was upset at the end because I knew I had the chance to beat him. I was two sets to love up. It’s not a nice feeling losing two sets to love up, losing in five. It happens to people. But, yes, I was more just disappointed at the end and the way it finished. It fell away at the end very quickly. That’s not the way you want it to happen. That’s why I was upset. You’re playing for your country, you’re playing for your teammates. You feel like you’ve let them down. I’ll look back on it and I’ll say I did my best. But you’re right in the moment, you’re emotionally attached to it. You’re just disappointed you couldn’t do it for your team.
Q. How would you feel about the prospects of playing a decisive fifth rubber if it came to it?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, it will obviously go to a third day now whatever. So we will be prepared to play a fifth rubber. We’ll see. I mean, the team and myself obviously will look at what I’m doing physically. Our opinions, should I play, shouldn’t I play, should James come in. Whatever happens, again, I’ll give my best. That’s all I can do.
Q. Was the problem in the fourth and fifth sets just tiredness and cramp or was there any injury, as well?
KYLE EDMUND: No, no, it was tightness and cramp. Yeah, I was cramping up. I lost confidence in my movement and it was bugging me. I didn’t come into the match with any injuries. If I did, I wouldn’t have played. You can’t go into a match injured, especially when you have a team.
So, yeah, it was just one of those things that happened.
Q. Were you surprised about the quality of his game for the two sets?
KYLE EDMUND: With my game?
Q. With his game.
KYLE EDMUND: With his game? He played the way I thought he was going to play. We looked at him and studied him. I had a game plan. The game plan was working. The weaknesses that we could exploit, that’s what was happening. His better shots which he was playing, he was doing, so he was playing to how we thought. That’s tennis. It’s like a cat and mouse game. You try and get his weakness, he tries to get yours. You use your strengths. No, I mean, I came out playing very well. But he’s No. 16 in the world for a good reason: because he’s a good player. I always knew he was going to keep coming at me.
Q. You’re obviously disappointed to lose, but do you feel in a way you’ve done a really good job for the team in as much as you’ve kept Belgium’s number one player out there for three hours, he’s expended a lot of energy, too, and people feel he’s going to have to play on all three days if Belgium is going to win?
KYLE EDMUND: Yeah, I guess I kept him out there for five sets. They were actually very quick sets. But, yeah, as you guys say, I didn’t think anyone expected him to play five sets today or be two sets to love down. Maybe that will be a factor. Yeah, I really don’t know. Yeah, I’m just disappointed. The team all said, You did your best, we’re proud of you, you left it all out there.
When you just walk back in the changing room, it’s not exactly what you want to hear, because you lost. But the team is together as one. We all win together, we lose together.
Q. You’ve had big wins against home players in France and Argentina this year. How different is it, the pressure in a Davis Cup Final?
KYLE EDMUND: It’s different. I’ve never experienced it before. Now I have experienced my first match, I’ve got an idea of it. But it just is different. It’s a lot more intense. As you can see, we’re playing away from home. You can hear the crowd right now, it’s very loud. So every point, it’s the same thing, it’s just really loud. It’s important to keep calm, keep your emotions in check.
But, yeah, you’ve got the team there as well. They’re standing up every point, giving you support. Normally, when you’re playing by yourself, you don’t have a team, you’re just playing with you. You maybe have one or two coaches in the stands during the year. So it’s different.
But, yeah, I’ll learn from it.
Q. Obviously you’re very disappointed just now. If you’re asked to go again on Sunday, do you feel your confidence will be restored?
KYLE EDMUND: Well, physically I’ll be a lot better because it gives me a couple of days to get ready. We’ll do everything we can to recover. I’ll be ready to go. But, yeah, it just depends. I’m picked to play. If Leon changes it, we’ll discuss it, no doubt. Communication is key to how I’m feeling, what Leon feels.
Obviously I want to play every time for my country. I’ll give my hundred percent. But, yeah, it’s the captain’s decision either way.
Q. Do you think the sort of late arrival from South America, all the traveling, played a part in the fatigue setting in?
KYLE EDMUND: No, I don’t. I got back on Saturday. I played my match on Friday, today. Throughout the year, when we go from like England to America, we have five days’ preparation getting ready, then I’m fine. It’s the same thing when we went to South America. I had four days’ preparation and I went out and played and won the tournament. The days were enough for me.
