Kyle Edmund set up a third-round blockbuster against Novak Djokovic by easing past Bradley Klahn on Centre Court.
The British number one has become adept not just at coming through the grand slam matches he should win but doing so efficiently, and it was the same here as he defeated the American qualifier 6-4 7-6 (7/0) 6-2.
Edmund did not face a single break point and, although he would have liked a better conversion rate than three of 12 chances on the Klahn serve, there was never a moment when the outcome looked in doubt.
Djokovic has begun to recover some of his old swagger and has cruised into the third round, although Edmund did win their most recent match on clay in Madrid in May. Their next meeting will come on Saturday.
And it is is done. A 6-4 7-6 (0) 6-2 victory for Edmund that never looked in doubt from the moment he broke in the first game. Djokovic on Saturday should be a cracker, but will it clash with the football?
— Eleanor Crooks (@EleanorcrooksPA) July 5, 2018
Edmund walked onto Centre Court shortly after Johanna Konta’s defeat, which made him the last British player standing in singles for the fourth successive slam.
The Yorkshireman’s task looked significantly less formidable than Konta’s, with Klahn ranked at number 168 and through to the second round of a slam for the first time since 2013 after two years lost to back surgery.
Klahn had been hoping for a Centre Court date but early nerves were evident as he double-faulted three times in a nine-minute opening game and Edmund broke.
The American battled hard to stay in contention in the set without ever threatening to break, and it was a similar story in the second.
Edmund finally got his second break of the match in the sixth game of the third set, and that proved the end of Klahn’s hopes.
