Couch Potato

TENNIS entered a brave new world with Amazon Prime’s first offering of their exclusive US Open coverage, but traditionalists were left fearing for the future.

Prime, who signed a five-year deal worth £30million to secure the UK rights to the Grand Slam, encountered teething problems on day one at Flushing Meadows.

Watching No 1 seed Simona Halep’s shock loss to Kaia Kanepi, the live stream looked, well, like a live stream. Viewers complained of poor picture quality and out-of-sync commentary.

Anyone wanting to watch Andy Murray on the app had to first scroll through dozens of adverts — for everything from the Manchester City documentary to deals on watches.

Once on the right page, Prime customers, who pay £7.99 a month or £79 a year, could choose from five streams: a main channel, three show courts and one outside.

That, too, led to issues. By broadcasting only one outside court at a time, fans could not watch Britain’s Heather Watson because of an overlap with Kyle Edmund’s match.

So it is safe to say Prime did not ace it, but those in charge will call for patience.

They have invested heavily by bringing in a team of well-known pundits and commentators, including five-time US Open champion Jimmy Connors.

Their studio in front of the Flushing Meadows practice courts looked stylish and former US Open quarter-finalist Daniela Hantuchova (above) particularly impressed as a pundit.

But there is work to be done if Prime are to prove they have not bitten off more than they can chew.