US Open: Murray and Evans lead British charge on Day 4
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It’s day four in Flushing Meadows and it’s a case of so far so good for Britain’s contenders over in America. Kyle Edmund is already through to the third round of the men’s draw, with Andy Murray and Dan Evans hoping to join him later today.
Murray opened his campaign with a comfortable first round win over Lukas Rosol, while Evans ousted American Rajeev Ram in four.
The Scots’ efficient performance versus Rosol, coupled with Novak Djokovic’s first round issues against Jerzy Janowicz, has seen Murray oust the world number one as the bookies favourite.
Murray is now 6/4 for a second US Open title, and he can enhance his chances further by seeing off Marcel Granollers.
The pair have met nine times previously, with Murray winning seven of those.
Both of Granollers’ victories have come on clay, with one of those a retirement from the Olympic champion. Further supporting Murray’s mightily odds-on 1/66 is that all but one of his victories over the Spaniard have come in straight sets.
A repeat is again heavily fancied by the bookies at 2/9, with an upset deemed very unlikely in today’s second match on Arthur Ashe.
So while Murray is expected to cruise into round three, can Evans join him and Edmund?
The 26-year-old is looking to repeat his run to the third round at Flushing Meadows in 2013, and after reaching that stage in Wimbledon this year too, Evans is in good shape to do so.
On paper the Englishman is up against it versus the talented Alexander Zverev, but there’s plenty to suggest Evans can come good on 12/5 outsider odds.
The 19-year-old Zverez is touted as one of the brightest talents in the game, but on current form, Evans has every chance of victory.
The German scrambled past world number 153 Daniel Brands in four sets, and is now up against the world number 64.
Furthering Evans’ hopes, Zverez has suffered a number of surprising defeats lately, including to Yuichi Sugita, Yen-Hsun Lu and Inigo Cervantes – all players ranked below the Briton.
Edmund is already through, Murray looks certain to join him, but can Evans make it a trio of Brits in round three?
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
