BRADLEY Klahn is not surprised to see Kyle Edmund flying the British flag but is fairly stunned to be the man providing his opposition in the second round at Wimbledon.

Edmund posted his eighth grand slam match victory of the season against 2017 Ilkley runner-up Alex Bolt in round one.

Klahn’s success against Yuichi Sugita was the first he has managed in the main draw of any slam since the US Open in 2013.

“It’s pretty surreal,” the Californian, who lost in the first round of the Fuzion 100 Ilkley Trophy a fortnight ago, said ahead of tomorrow's tussle with Edmund.

“The last Wimbledon main draw I played was 2014 and a lot’s happened since then, so just to qualify, earn my way back onto the grounds, was special and to play really good tennis, it feels really good.”

Klahn, a Stanford graduate, reached his career-high ranking of 63 in 2014 before his body, in his own words, fell apart.

Back surgery the following season put him out for the best part of two years and it has been a slow journey back.

He arrived at Roehampton for Wimbledon qualifying on a four-match losing streak and without a tour-level win all season, so it is no surprise this achievement feels especially sweet.

He said: “I went through a lot of questioning whether I should come back and play tennis. There were a lot of times when I was pretty upset, pretty depressed.

“I started looking at other opportunities but I knew I wasn’t ready to give up tennis, I knew maybe I had a few more moments like this in me. There’s no looking for other opportunities right now.

“I feel like I’m playing better tennis each week, I’m making improvements. Last year I was really just finding my feet, almost re-learning the ropes. You never know when your week’s going to happen. I’m excited. These are the moments I’ve always envisioned.”

Klahn and Edmund have played twice previously, both times in 2014, when the British No 1 was still a teenager.

At that stage Yorkshire's Edmund was ranked outside the top 200 but Klahn saw enough to spot a star in the making.

“Kyle’s a phenomenal player, he’s made a big leap this year making his first (grand slam) semi-final. It’s in his home country, so he’s certainly going to have plenty of support,” said the 27-year-old.

“I’ve been able to watch a little bit of him and he’s obviously made improvements. It’s been so long since I played him so there’s not a whole lot I can take from that but I know what I’m in for.

“Obviously big serve, big forehand, so he’s going to look to control a lot of the points with that. It’s my job to try to neutralise that and get him out of his comfort zone.

“He’s got a great approach to how he goes about things. He works extremely hard, he’s very professional. Seeing him as a younger player, I always thought he was going to be someone who was going to be dangerous on tour.”

Edmund is looking to reach the third round for the first time at the All England Club, which could result in a clash against 12-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic.

Meanwhile, Katie Swan’s run was emphatically ended in the second round by 29th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu.

Nineteen-year-old Swan, who was another first-roun Ilkley loser, won a main-draw match at the All England Club for the first time on Monday.

But she found the task against Romanian Buzarnescu, who has shot up the rankings over the past year, a step too far.

Swan did not manage to win a game until the start of the second set and her hopes of a comeback were ended when Buzarnescu wrapped up a 6-0 ,6-3 victory.

A year ago, Buzarnescu was ranked 213 and lost in Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton having only just returned to the sport seriously.

The Romanian was a promising junior but injuries stalled her progress and the thought she might be achieving what she has aged 30 seemed a distant dream.

But Buzarnescu’s body finally co-operated and she has not looked back, soaring into the top 100 by the end of 2017 and continuing her progress this season.

She arrived at Wimbledon on the back of a run to the semi-finals in Birmingham, where she beat top-five player Elina Svitolina for the second time in a month.

It quickly became clear that Swan’s task was going to be an extremely tough one.

The teenager had played brilliantly to beat Buzarnescu’s countrywoman Irina-Camelia Begu for her first grand slam victory on Monday but soon found herself being dragged to all parts of the court.

Swan did not play badly in the opening set and came close to winning several games but Buzarnescu, the highest-ranked opponent the British youngster has ever faced, gave very little away while pinning her opponent in the corners and sending dust from the lines flying on numerous occasions.

Under immense pressure in every rally, Swan began to over-hit and Buzarnescu clinched the set with a superb game, twice sending returns arrowing into Swan’s feet before a final pin-point drop shot.

Swan, who was watched by doubles partner Katie Boulter, must have been fearing a whitewash but she earned huge cheers from the Court Three crowd by winning the opening game of the second set.

Despite her dominance, Buzarnescu was quick to berate herself for errors and was fuming when Swan fought back from 4-1 in the second set to make it 4-3.

Had the young Bristolian won another game to level, things might have been different, but a wayward backhand proved costly and Buzarnescu wrapped up victory in an hour and 14 minutes.

Second seed Caroline Wozniacki became the biggest casualty of the tournament so far as she was a second-round loser to Ekaterina Makarova.

The Dane, who won the title in Eastbourne last week and was seeded second in London, lost 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 to the Russian on Court One.

Wozniacki’s exit means half of the top 10 seeds have already been dumped out in the opening two rounds.

She follows Sloane Stephens, Elina Svitolina, Caroline Garcia and Petra Kvitova on her way home.

Some great hitting allowed unseeded Makarova to steam into a 5-1 lead in the first set, which she eventually took 6-4.

Wozniacki is renowned for her fighting spirit and looked to have gained the upper hand after cruising to the second set to level up.

Makarova regrouped, though, and surged to a 5-1 lead in the decider before having to fend off another fightback.

She served for the match, then had four match points at 5-4 before eventually getting the job done at the sixth attempt.

Makarova said: “Caroline is always a very tough opponent and we have played so many times.

“It’s only the second time I have beaten her. It is tough to face her but I am so happy.”

Elsewhere there was another victory for 2016 Ilkley champion Evgeniya Rodina (Russia), who defeated Sorana Cirstea (Romania) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, but a defeat for Thailand's Luksika Khumkhum - 6-4, 6-3 to tenth seed Madison Keys.

Ilkley men's winner Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukrraine) lost 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-3 to 11th seed Sam Querrey (United States).

In the men's doubles, Britons Liam Broady and Scott Clayton, who provided so much excitement for the Centre Court crowd at Ilkley, defeated Americans Francis Tiafoe and Jackson Withrow 7.5, 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the men's doubles, but out went Katie Boulter and Swan in the women's doubles 6-3, 6-2 to 14th seeds Lucie Hradecka (Czech Republic) and Su-Wei Hseih (Chinese Taipei).