STAR PREVIEW: US Open and the Bank Holiday hiatus
[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ittle bit of an enforced hiatus on the football front with the UEFA EURO 2016 Qualifier’s underway on Thursday when the matches include Cyprus v Wales.
The Republic Of Ireland and Scotland have their games on Friday against Gibraltar and Georgia respectively.
On Saturday we can look forward to the highly competitive battle between San Marino and England !!
Whilst I’m on the subject of hiatus – what on earth was Bank Holiday’s sporting programme like? As dismal as the weather, that’s what.
Surely the day is crying out for some high profile action with many people having the day off as a day of leisure? The horse racing was very average on both sides of the Irish Sea (and no evening racing) and the ONLY televised football match of the day was Cheltenham Town v Wrexham in the newly branded National League (read ‘Conference’). Would some of the Premier League matches spilling over to Monday really have impacted the build up to the Euro 2016 schedule that much ??
One major event that did get underway on the other side of the Pond is the US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York. It’s the fourth and final tennis major of the year and all eyes will be on Serena Williams to see if she can complete the ‘calendar-year Grand Slam’ last achieved by Steffi Graf in 1988.
Don’t forget to check out the full range of US Open markets on Star Sports including in play betting on all matches.
Andy Murray starts his campaign on Tuesday evening on the Arthur Ashe Court. Murray’s game is an evening game – so we are looking at around midnight over here before it gets underway.
Murray plays 20-year-old Aussie Nick Kyrgios and it’s not necessarily the easiest start for Murray. Kyrgios was a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon last year and reached the same stage of the Australian Open in January.
Kyrgios is fast becoming the bad boy of tennis and some his recent behaviour has made John ‘You cannot be serious’ McEnroe’s outbursts look very tame. Kyrgios was fined and given a suspended ban for comments made about Stan Wawrinka’s girlfriend during their recent match in Montreal.
Murray has beaten Kyrgios in the three previous times they have met and it’s hard to see anything beyond a straight sets victory at around 8/13 for the Scot.
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