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General: Moments of the Month: July Review

bet365 News Team Updated: 30 Aug 23 09:27 Published: 01 Aug 22 16:50

England's women ended the month of July as historic European champions, there was a first major success for Cameron Smith at The Open, while Elena Rybakina celebrated her first-ever Grand Slam triumph when she memorably won Wimbledon.

It's been another busy month of top-level sport with ongoing Formula 1 drama, international rugby union and plenty of cricket to also throw into the mix.

Arguably the highlight of the month, however, came on the final day of July. England's Lionesses, who had thrillingly reached the Euro 2022 final on home soil after scoring 20 goals and conceding just once, saw off Germany at Wembley after extra-time.

Ella Toone's stunning opener at a packed national stadium was cancelled out by Lina Magull, before England sealed their first-ever major women's title thanks to substitute Chloe Kelly's goal.

It sparked wild celebrations as Sarina Wiegman's team became the first England side since the men back in 1966 to lift a major trophy.

Golf: Smith sees of McIlroy to win at St Andrews

Smith won the 150th Open Championship last month, finishing just one stroke clear of Cameron Young, while Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy's bid for another major again ended in disappointment as he finished third.

Australian Smith rolled in five successive birdies from the 10th on the final Sunday, to deservedly win the Claret Jug with an overall score of -20.

Wimbledon: Rybakina the toast of Kazakhstan

Rybakina became the first player from Kazakhstan to win a Grand Slam title when she came from a set down to beat Tunisian third seed Ons Jabeur in a tense Wimbledon final.

The 23-year-old came out on top 3-6 6-2 6-2 to become the youngest Wimbledon singles champion since 2011, ending another captivating couple of weeks at SW19.

In the men's singles, Novak Djokovic made it four consecutive Wimbledon titles when he also came from behind to beat Australia's Nick Kyrgios on Centre Court.

The Serb's 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-3) success moved him to 21 major career titles - just one behind Rafael Nadal's record haul of 22.

Rybakina is 14/1 to win the US Open, Djokovic is 6/4 to win the men's event in New York.

Rugby Union: Northern Hemisphere make a statement

It's been a memorable month, too, in rugby union as tourists England beat Australia 21-17 in the deciding Test to seal a 2-1 series win - only their second-ever series victory away against the Aussies - while Ireland stunned New Zealand to win a first-ever series against the All-Blacks 2-1.

Scotland, in contrast, went down to a disappointing 2-1 series defeat in Argentina, and Wales were agonisingly beaten 32-29 in their deciding Test to also lose 2-1 overall against South Africa.

Cricket: England's poor white-ball form continues

England's Test team began the month well with a seven-wicket win over India at Edgbaston but the limited overs squad then went down to consecutive 2-1 series defeats in both the T20 and ODI formats to the same country.

The South Africa one-day series that followed ended all square at 1-1 after the finale at Headingley was largely rained off, before England's white-ball woes continued with a 2-1 T20 series defeat against the Proteas at the end of July.

England are 7/2 to win the T20 World Cup later this year, while they are 3/1 to win next years' 50-over World Cup.

Formula 1: Verstappen now clear of the pack

Across a busy month in Formula 1, Max Verstappen, who now has an 80-point lead at the top of the drivers' standings, won two races in France and Hungary.

There were victories for Ferrari earlier in the month in Austria, when Charles Leclerc took the chequered flag, and at Silverstone when Carlos Sainz Jr won the British Grand Prix.

Verstappen is 1/12 to be crowned world champion for a second successive year, while Leclerc is 15/2.