Kyle Edmund on his road to recovery
Kyle Edmund on his road to recovery One of Britain's brightest tennis talents, Kyle Edmund, is having to sit this year's Wimbledon out. He tells us how he's recovered during a pandemic so he can smash 2022 David Levesley After two knee surgeries, in November 2020 and then in April 2021, there wasn't much of an alternative for Kyle Edmund other than to sit out Wimbledon this year. "It's the one tournament that I'm missing that hurts the most, especially being British," the 26-year-old tennis player told GQ. "But after I decided to have my operation, it was about going through the rehab and going through the timeline and allowing the knee to recover on its own and not force it too much."
Rehab over the winter was hard enough, but deciding to get the second surgery was "quite a down moment" for Edmund. That said, like many sports professionals, the change of pace, because of a pandemic and his knee, hasn't been entirely without virtue: "Being at home has been nice, just being able to sleep in my own bed and be with my family. But not being able to compete has been the worst bit."
Although he hasn't been able to play a match in a hot minute, Edmund has still been able to train at the Tennis Federation under strict guidelines. We wanted to know how he's been getting on with his recovery ahead of 2022 maybe being his year at long last.
Structure
"I usually have a very regimented life due to tennis and that just went in lockdown. When you're rehabilitating, however, you're following a very set plan and structure: your loading days, your rest days, when you're pushing on big work days. So I follow that and try to just listen to my body.
"I try and give myself as much of a chance as possible to look after my body, get enough sleep, keep my nutrition and hydration good."
Fitness
"I've been spending a lot more time in the gym, but, to be honest with you, it's not changed that much. Instead of going to work to get on the courts, I've just been going to work for rehab. It has helped me to learn a bit more about myself. Ever since I was young I've always been travelling, playing in tournaments, living out of suitcases. Now I have this time to rehab, to think, there's a lot less carnage. I've had the opportunity to do stuff I wouldn't normally."
Nutrition
"Nutrition is so key to the recovery of your body: what you put in is what you get out and if you look after your body it'll look after you. I have a balanced diet, but I'm not crazy on making sure I only eat this or an amount of that. When I'm training I want to get calories in, but the right calories. That's always been my big thing. I'm always just drinking water or sports drinks, but one of the big things for me is smoothies. I don't eat loads at one time, so to get the calories in I rely on them for fuel."
Guilty pleasures
"I love watching live sports, whether it's cricket, rugby, football, golf, tennis. I'm into Formula One, any kind of car racing. When we went into lockdown I was in my homemade simulator in the TV room. Now that the season is back on I've watched a lot of it.
"I'm also really into Lego, particularly Lego cars. You can get quite big ones these days that take hours. Since the start of lockdown I've probably built six or seven Lego cars that took four to five hours each. It takes my mind off things and allows me to zone out."
Sleep
"I've always been a deep sleeper. I found, initially, when I wasn't training that I was struggling to sleep, but once I got back onto the courts I slept more – because I'm so used to being so physically active, it was harder for my body to shut down in that first period. I wouldn't set an alarm and I'd be waking up earlier and my sleep wouldn't have been as good either. But I've realised that what I do with my day is key and soon as I started up again I got good hours again."
Mental health
"I'm quite a private person. I have a close-knit group around me who I trust and rely on. A lot of it is family. I have a very good personal relationship with my coach too and I know that my strength isn't always opening up, so as I've got older I've gotten better at that and I've been able to open up with people I'm close to: my coach, my family.
"I've found trusting people has helped me with the mental side of things. It's all about communication. I'm someone who likes to solve problems on my own and as a tennis player you have to do that on the court, but then I've taken it into all of my life. So communicating, when I'm off the court, has helped me to get advice when I need it."
Kyle Edmund is a Global Brand Ambassador for evian, the Official Water of The Championships, Wimbledon. The brand is celebrating the return of Wimbledon with an annual ticket pledge to thank different community groups with a dedicated day at its iconic VIP Suite, the first ever hospitality suite to be certified carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust. Youth Champions are the next group to be celebrated during Wimbledon 2022, with evian and Kyle calling on the nation to submit nominations via its Instagram account @evianwater from 30th June.
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