Kyle Edmund at Wimbledon 2018: British No1 through to second round with straight sets win over Alex Bolt

Kyle Edmund overcame a brief third-set wobble to book his place in the second round of Wimbledon with a straight sets victory over world No.204 Alex Bolt.

Edmund needed just an hour and 43 minutes to secure his victory 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, a margin of victory that would have been even more emphatic but for some jitters in the early knockings of the third, which Bolt came within a point of claiming.

The No.21 seed had some initial trouble reading Bolt’s slicing serve, which on more than one occasion kept too low for him, but once he got his eye in there was little that the Australian could offer to unduly test him.

All too often Bolt’s ground strokes succumbed to unforced errors, forehands skewing wide and far too many balls connecting with the racket frame rather than the strings.

Meanwhile Edmund scarcely put a foot wrong, indeed not once in the first two sets did he lose a point off a first serve, breaking twice in the first and in the fifth game of the second.

In Pictures | Wimbledon 2018

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In Pictures | Wimbledon 2018

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  Joanna Konta of Great Britain returns to Natalia Vikhlyantseva of Russia

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  Joanna Konta of Great Britain

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  Johanna Konta slips during her match

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  France's Alize Cornet in action

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  Peter Gojowczyk serves on day two of the Wimbledon Championships

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  Juan Martin Del Potro during his match against Peter Gojowczyk

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  Daria Gavrilova of Australia returns against Caroline Dolehide of The United States

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  Johanna Konta celebrates during her match on day two of the Wimbledon Championships

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  Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in action during the first round match against France's Alize Cornet

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  Kei Nishikori of Japan returns to Christian Harrison of USA

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  Serena Williams

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  Spectators on day one of the Wimbledon Championships

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  Switzerland's Roger Federer in action vs Serbia's Dusan Lajovic

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  Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka wins his first round match against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria

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  Serena Williams slips

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  Madison Keys of the U.S. in action during the first round match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic

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  Gael Monfils of France gives a thumbs up after falling to the floor during his Men's Singles first round match against Richard Gasquet of France on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships

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  Camila Giorgi of Italy returns the ball to Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia

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  Milos Raonic of Canada returns to Liam Broady of Great Britain

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  Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki reacts during her first round match against Varvara Lepchenko

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  Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia returns against Cameron Norrie of Great Britain

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  Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands (R) shakes hands with Barbora Stefkova of Czech Republic

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  Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece returns against Gregoire Barrere of France during their Men's Singles first round match on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships

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  Katie Swan of Great Britain returns against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania

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  Netherlands' Arantxa Rus

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  Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria

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  Venus Williams in action Johanna Larsson

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  Croatia's Donna Vekic

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  Sam Querrey of the United States celebrates winning his Men's Singles first round match against Jordan Thompson of Australia on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships

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  Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reacts after falling on the court during her Ladies' Singles first round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova

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  Sloane Stephens

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  South Africa's Kevin Anderson celebrates winning the first set during the first round match against Slovakia's Norbert Gombos

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  John Isner of the United States plays a shot during his Men's Singles first round match against Yannick Maden of Germany

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  A young Roger Federer fan holds up a sign asking kindly for his headband

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  The elated young fan smiles as her wish comes true

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  Switzerland's Roger Federer celebrates after beating Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-3, 6-4

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  Switzerland's Roger Federer

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  Marin Cilic celebrates his win against Yoshihito Nishioka

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  Spectators watch the action at the All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon

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  Great Britain's Harriet Dart

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  Czech Republic's Kristyna Pliskova

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  Switzerland's Roger Federer on the practice courts

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  Members of the public queue for tickets outside The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon

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  Spectators arrive

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  Johanna Konta trains on the practice courts

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  Maria Sharapova in training at Wimbldon

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  Rafael Nadal

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  Andy Murray's name is removed from the order of play following his withdrawal from Wimbledon

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  Novak Djokovicduring an interview with former tennis champion Boris Becker

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  Darius Platt-Vowles from Gloucestershire is first in the queue

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  Romania's Simon Halep

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  Alexander Zverev

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  Larissa Lamb from Teddington in the queue ahead of the 2018 Wimbledon Championships

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  Switzerland's Roger Federer takes part in a press conference

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  Spain's Rafael Nadal and Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka shake hands during practice

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  Serena Williams attends a press conference

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  Dominic Thiem

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  Petra Kvitova

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  Roger Federer laughs during a practice session

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  Military personnel prepare for a goup picture on Centre Court

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  Marin Cilic smiles as he leaves the practice courts

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  Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka

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  General view of spectators camping overnight to gain entry to Wimbledon

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The start of the third set brought surprise travails for the Brit, who faced two break points in the opening game. Though he saved them he was not so lucky in the fifth, when he netted a forehand as Bolt, with nothing left to lose, went on the offensive and secured a break of serve.

Photo: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

Bolt could not entirely eradicate the errors from his game he proved to be a more fearsome opponent in the third, hitting hard and aggressively charging at the net. It was enough to spook Edmund, who found himself facing set point only to respond with a purely-struck crosscourt forehand. Another excellent shot set up break-back point that ended with Bolt sending a backhand long.

The Australian’s brave resistance was ended and it was little surprise when Edmund wrapped up the match with a break soon after, Bolt miscuing a volley into the net as the British No.1 marched on to the next round.