Jamie Murray eases through his men's doubles first-round clash at the US Open while Vicky Thornley and Katherine Grainger headline a host of Brits to advance at the World Rowing Championships. Here’s our review of the last 24 hours.
Jamie Murray kicked off his US Open men’s doubles campaign in style as he and Australian partner John Peers cruised to victory in round one.
The eighth seeds, who reached their first Grand Slam at Wimbledon earlier this summer, took just 59 minutes to record a 6-3, 6-2 win over American wildcards Bjorn Fratangelo and Dennis Novikov.
Murray and Peers dominated from the off, not facing a single break point in the contest, and will now meet Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo and Australia’s Rameez Junaid in the second round. Dom Inglot is also through to round two of the men's doubles after he and Swedish partner Robert Lindstedt battled to a surprise 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 win over second seeds Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Brazils Marcelo Melo.
However, there was less success for the other Brits in action as Aljaz Bedene and Spanish partner Daniel Gimeno-Traver lost 6-3, 7-6 to Mate Pavic and Michael Venus while Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith lost 6-4, 6-4 to Michaella Krajicek and Barbora Strycova in the women’s doubles.
Vicky Thornley claims it is job done but knows that she and Katherine Grainger will need to step up their efforts if they are going to make a real impact at the World Rowing Championships.
It was a solid day for the Brits in Aiguebelette as the team picked up eight quarter-final and repechage wins out of ten.
In the double scull, Grainger and Thornley came through their repechage in top spot to qualify for the semi-final in a time of 7:00.59 minutes.
“We did exactly what we needed to do”, said Thornley. “Looking at everyone’s times it’s all going to be very tight so we need to push on in the semis.”
Elsewhere, the men’s open pair of James Foad and Matt Langridge came through their quarter-final while Jamie Kirkwood, the GB women’s eight and the lightweight men’s quadruple scull also advanced. Read more here.
Chris Froome admits he is unlikely to start stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana on Thursday after a crash saw him lose more than seven minutes to his general classification rivals.
Froome, who claimed his second Tour de France title earlier this year, hit a barrier in the early going of stage 11 and suffered foot, knee and shoulder injuries. That led to him being dropped on the final climb of the day to end up almost nine minutes behind stage winner Mikel Landa of Spain.
Landa’s Astana team-mate Fabio Aru took the overall lead and Froome is now seven minutes and 30 seconds behind the Italian.
The Brits dreams of becoming just the third man to win Le Tour and the Vuelta in the same season appear to be over and the 30-year-old acknowledged that his ongoing participation in the race is now in doubt. "Knocked sideways into a barrier & stone wall today," tweeted Froome on Wednesday evening. "Further scans in the morning but start unlikely as I can't walk without crutches."
Andy Murray insists he is taking nothing for granted as he continues his bid for a second US Open against France’s Adrian Mannarino on Thursday evening.
Murray beat unpredictable Australian Nick Kyrgios in straight sets in round one to set up a clash with world number 35 Mannarino on Arthur Ashe court at around 20:00 BST.
The Briton won their only previous encounter at Indian Wells earlier this year but is geared up for an awkward encounter.
“He's a tricky player,” explained Murray. “He's a lefty. He hits the ball extremely flat off both sides and has very short, compact swings, excellent timing.
“He's quick, a good athlete with very good hands. He's a talented guy.”
Murray is not the only Brit aiming to reach the third round at Flushing Meadows on Thursday as Jo Konta puts her 14 match winning run on the line against Wimbledon finalist and ninth seed Garbine Muguruza from 16:00 while Aljaz Bedene meets home favourite Donald Young at around 18:00.
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