Chicago will be Mo kind of town
Mum still the word for Jamie
JUBILANT Jamie Murray won his sixth Grand Slam doubles title to add to brother Andy’s three singles majors.
But he insisted the siblings will always be put in the shade by what their mum Judy has achieved in giving kids an opportunity to play.
Murray serenaded his mum, who turned 59 on Saturday, after he and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the US Open mixed doubles title, leading the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday to You”.
Murray, 32, partnered American Mattek-Sands to a 2-6, 6-3, 11-9 victory over Croatia’s Nikola Mektic and Poland’s Alicja Rosolska to retain the title he won with Switzerland’s Martina Hingis last year.
Murray later paid a glowing tribute to his mum’s work in coaching young players and pioneering tennis initiatives in Britain.
He said: “Andy and I have done some pretty amazing things on the tennis court, considering where we’ve come from.
“But what my mum has been able to do is almost bigger in the grand scheme of things. It’s pretty incredible how many kids she’s brought tennis to in our country.
“She’s got so many initiatives with young kids in the UK. She wanted to give as many kids as she could the opportunities she didn’t have. She wanted to be a professional player but it was very difficult in Scotland at that time.”
Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid retained their wheelchair men’s title, recovering from a set down to defeat French pair Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer 5-7, 6-3, 11-9.
And fellow Briton Andy Lapthorne won the quad wheelchair doubles title, teaming up with American David Wagner to beat Australia’s Dylan Alcott and America’s Bryan Barten 3-6, 6-0, 10-4. MO FARAH is ready for the Chicago Marathon after racing to a record fifth straight Great North Run win.
Farah was four seconds outside his best but showed he was in great shape to “make some history” over 26 miles next month.
He won yesterday’s half marathon between Newcastle and South Shields in 59mins, 26 secs.
“I’m in much better shape than last year,” said Farah. “Training is different as a road runner. I do a lot more long runs and intervals for Chicago. In terms of endurance I’m fitter.
“I’m happy. I wanted to be in control of the race. That’s why you saw me at the front pushing the pace and playing around with it. I was testing the body.
“The last two miles were hard, coming into the headwind. My legs were tired but I was not going one pace smooth, I was going up and down.
“I thought I could get the PB but I slowed the last two miles, especially the last mile. But most important is the win.”
Farah shrugged off New Zealand’s Jake Robertson (59:57) in the final section as he set himself up in style for his bid to win his first major marathon crown in Chicago.
Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot won the women’s race in 1:07:44, David Weir dominated the men’s wheelchair race in a course record of 41:19 and Martyna Snopek won the women’s wheelchair race in 63:02.
MICHAEL JOHNSON is recovering after a mini-stroke.
The American track legend, a regular pundit on the BBC, tweeted that last week he had “rather surprisingly suffered what’s known as a transient ischemic attack”.
He added: “The good news is I’m back with my family, cleared of any heart issues and have already made great progress on my road to a full recovery.”