For Kyle Edmund, history is for making not worrying about. He sees little value in looking back – but there can be few doubts his grinding, four-hour win against the 11th seed, Kevin Anderson, in the first round of the Australian Open represented a pivotal moment in his young career.

Edmund, 23 and reassuringly lacking in cynicism, agrees with that at least. It was only the seventh time in 29 attempts that he has beaten a player in the top 20. Now, he reckons, he has to set his sights on Denis Istomin, the in-your-face Russian who moved to Uzbekistan, and who is capable of playing way above his ranking of 60 in the world. A year ago, when 117 in the rankings, Istomin put Novak Djokovic out of this tournament in an epic performance that lasted nearly five hours.

As for history, that was the first time since 2008 the Serb had not made the third round of a slam. The landscape these players inhabit is even more fractured now, with Djokovic talking up his chances after six months away injured, but nobody certain that pedigree alone is as reliable as it once was. Rafael Nadal, the losing finalist last year, did answer doubts about his fitness with a thumping 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 win against Víctor Estrella Burgos in just an hour and 34 minutes but Edmund has as good a chance as anyone to reach the second week of this tournament.

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“You’re aware of it. You’re in a situation you want to win. Basically when you lose, you’re disappointed. Well, everyone is, but I put a lot of time and effort into this sport. It takes up a lot of your life. When stuff like that happens, you’re disappointed. You want to fix it.

“It’s a game of winning,” he said, shortly after wrapping up a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Anderson, who beat him over the same journey in the third round of the French Open eight months ago. “It’s a business. You want to win, so of course you’re disappointed. I think that’s the best word: you’re disappointed you lost. And frustrated. When that happens, you know it’s happening, you just want to turn it round. I think it’s only normal. But I don’t think of it as: ‘I need to win this match now because I’ve lost the last one.’ You’re just aware of what happened last time. You learned what to do.”

So, history is not entirely irrelevant, then. But there can be no arguing with the quiet positivism of Edmund, probably one of the most unflappable players on the Tour. He rarely deviates from an almost disturbing serenity on court. He does not shout, break rackets or let bad calls get to him. He is the calm in the eye of a storm.

Now for Istomin, who has his moments on court. “I don’t think I’ve played him before [he hasn’t]. I practised with him once maybe, or warmed up with him.”

He added, almost as an afterthought: “He’s one of those guys that’s always solid, really professional, always around the same ranking. You know what you’re going to get with him. He’s going to bring out a level that’s going to be tough to beat. I haven’t really given much thought to it, to be honest. I just wanted to enjoy the moment right now.”

Edmund knows, however, that, if he is to rise from 49 in the world and to make an impact in these tournaments, the rolling pressure of going from one tough opponent to another will build not dissipate. For now, he is in good mental shape to cope with that. As for physically, he declared a recently rolled right ankle and a sore shoulder as no more than inconveniences.

He’s a cool customer, is Kyle.