Heather Watson suffered disappointment in New York while British crews advance at the rowing World Championships and Victoria Pendleton is back - in a different sort of saddle. Here's our review of the last 24 hours:
Heather Watson is still searching for her first win at Flushing Meadows after suffering a first round defeat at the US Open. The British number one - a former junior champion at the event - suffered her fifth straight defeat in New York to American Lauren Davis, going down 7-6, 7-6. The world number 61 never looked like recapturing the form that pushed Serena Williams to the limits at Wimbledon. And her frustration was clear when she yelled at herself on court: “You’re playing so badly.” "I was thinking a lot about this match, thinking that it was a big opportunity and about the previous years and my results here," said Watson. "Maybe I thought about that a bit too much." The five remaining Britons in the US Open singles, including former champion Andy Murray, begin their campaigns today.
Double world champion Pete Reed insists there is more to come from him and the GB men's eight after they won their Rowing World Championship heat. Cox Phelan Hill and stroke Will Satch brought the men's eight crew home ahead of the challenge from Holland and Russia in the quicker of the two heat. Germany won the opposing race but Reed, in the three-seat, believes there is still plenty more to come. He said: "We knew it was going to be a hard heat and the field didn't disappoint. "We are quietly pleased and now need to get on and prepare for the final. There is more to come." Olympic champion Katherine Grainger and new partner Vicky Thornley will need to race a repechage after their double sculls heat. They were third to European silver medallists Lithuania and Australia. "This proved just how competitive our event is here," Grainger said. "Now we have a race every other day and we will take every one as it comes. "We always knew that it would be tough."
Double Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton finished second on her competitive debut as a jockey at Ripon. Pendleton, a keirin gold medallist at London 2012, was beaten by 33-1 chance Jordaura as she rode Royal Etiquette over one mile and two furlongs.
Chris Froome gained a place in the overall classification at the Vuelta a Espana. Froome, now seventh, finished in the peloton to remain 78 seconds behind Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, who retained his overall lead following the 146.6km stage from Valencia to Castellon.
Despite a number of promising performances, Great Britain were unable mark the 2015 World Judo Championships with a medal in Astana. With Rio less than 12 months ago, the competition in Kazakhstan provided British judo fighters with a chance to not only lay down a marker of intent, but gain valuable qualification points. As it was a podium finish proved out of reach for the eight-strong team with the best result coming via Olympic silver medallist Gemma Gibbons who placed seventh. But GB Elite performance coach Jean Paul-Bell taking comfort from their World Championships performances. “We came out here and asked them to perform at their best which they all did,” he said. “There are very small margins between winning and losing a contest, sometimes as small as a shido, and some days it's a medal for us and other days it isn’t. “Overall, I am really pleased with the performance from the team and I am looking forward to the rest of the events ahead.” Read more here Ainslie happy with America's Cup form
Sir Ben Ainslie's BAR team sit second in the overall America's Cup World Series rankings after a third place in Gothenburg. He said: "We fought our way through and finished up on the podium overall which we are happy with – of course we would have liked to have been on top of the podium, but this is another step along the America’s Cup journey for us, and it’s good to be competing at the top of this circuit.” “For a new team we’re performing well, we’ve certainly got plenty of gains that we can make, and we need to keep working on that for the next event in Bermuda coming up in October.” © Sportsbeat 2015