Kyle Edmund insists he’ll do things his way rather than seeking advice from two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.
Murray has been the British men’s number one at every championship at the All England Club since 2008 – but world number 18 Edmund will have that honour next week.
But Edmund does not have the best record at SW19, in five matches since his debut in 2015 he has banked just one victory, over fellow Brit Alexander Ward 12 months ago.
Grass is certainly not his natural surface – underlined by his run to the semi-finals at the Australian Open earlier this year.
He beat Murray, back at Wimbledon after nearly a year on the sidelines, for the first time at Eastbourne last week but lost to world number 90 Mikhail Kukushkin in the next round.
And that potentially spurned a gilt-edged chance to bank his maiden ATP Tour title as the highest ranked player remaining.
“My personality is I like to do stuff on my own, figure it out my own way,” said Edmund, ahead of his first round match with Australian qualifier Alex Bolt on Tuesday.
“I have a team around me which I trust and they have experience. I relate to them in terms of seeking advice, I’m comfortable with my coaches and the people I trust around me. Of course I’ve spoken to Andy but not about advice.
“Andy being here is obviously great from a tennis fan point of view. I’m a fan of tennis, it’s good to see him back after pretty much a year out, which is not nice for anyone.”
Despite his patchy form on these manicured lawns, the 23-year old insists he can make an impact at his home Slam – with three-time champion and 12th seed Novak Djokovic his likely third round opponent, if he can establish some winning momentum.
“I feel like I’ve played my best grass court tennis this year and that gives me good confidence,” he added.
“I won’t get too ahead of myself, you always have to earn your victory. I’m always keeping that in mind but I’m doing my best to be positive and be in a good head space.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to become a member at the All England Club and I’ve spent more time here and it’s become more comfortable when I walk in.
“It’s nice to be able to feel like you’re coming to your club that you’re a member at. I think that’s helped me quite a bit.
“I understand that they’ll be more expectation, when you become British number one or get into the world’s top 20, people naturally want more from you.
“It shows you’re doing well and you have to embrace it. If you don’t want the responsibility of having expectation, I guess professional sport isn’t really for you. That’s what happens in every professional sport. When you go up, there’s more expectations and I’m embracing it.”
