US Open Day 1 – Halep Crashes Out, Murray Makes Winning Return, Daniela Hantuchova Guests

Former World No.5 turned Amazon Prime Video UK pundit Daniela Hantuchova joins David and Catherine to review an eventful opening day at the US Open.

For the first time in the tournament’s history, the women’s top seed lost in the first round. Where did it all go wrong for Simona Halep against Kaia Kanepi? Why was there no real fightback? Has she become over-reliant on Darren Cahill? Hantuchova thinks she might still need time to recover from the high of winning at Roland Garros.

From a British perspective it was a pretty chaotic day, with Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund and Heather Watson all playing at the same time.

Murray came from a set down to defeat James Duckworth, with his movement improving steadily throughout the match. Hantuchova gives an insight into what it’s like to return from injury, and draws a fascinating comparison between Halep’s on-court negativity and Murray’s emotional ramblings.

Edmund, meanwhile, broke down physically in a four-set loss to Paolo Lorenzi. What happened?

Elsewhere, Stan Wawrinka eased past Grigor Dimitrov. Nobody was surprised by the result, but the 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 scoreline was alarmingly lop-sided. Why is Dimitrov struggling so much in 2018? Does he need to become less ‘stubborn’?

In the night session, Serena's dress and Nadal's sleeveless top caught the eye.

David and Catherine will be back with daily shows throughout the US Open fortnight. 

The Tennis Podcast is produced in association with the Telegraph and sponsored by Amazon Prime Video, the new home of the US Open in the UK. 

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