Jamie keeping flag flying for the Murrays
Andy may have temporarily swapped the court for the commentary booth but, thanks to Jamie, there will be a man named Murray in a Wimbledon final for a fourth year in a row.
The 32-year-old Scot and Victoria Azarenka outclassed British duo Harriet dart and Jay Clarke 6-2, 6-2 in the mixed doubles semi-final on Court no1 yesterday.
Tomorrow Murray will try to win a third mixed title at Wimbledon with a third different partner, after victories last year with Martina Hingis and with Jelena Jankovic in 2007.
He and Azarenka face no11 seeds nicole Melichar, of the USA, and Alexander Peya, of Austria.
‘I’m really excited to be in the final,’ said Murray. ‘We played a great match from start to finish. We didn’t really give them a chance.’
It was the end of a fairytale fortnight for wildcards Clarke and dart, aged 19 and 21 respectively.
They had never played together before, but have had an incredible run, beating the no1 seeds along the way.
They met their match here with a quite brilliant performance from Murray and, in particular, Azarenka.
The 28-year-old has racked up two Australian Open singles titles and an Olympic gold medal in the mixed doubles for Belarus, won here at Wimbledon in 2012 against Andy Murray and Laura Robson.
It is often said that the key for a mixed doubles player is finding the right partner. And Murray has shown again that he knows how to pick one, as he followed his partnership with Hingis by linking up with Azarenka.
He puts this down to good fortune, having not intended to play the mixed doubles in either of the last two years.
This year he was tipped off by men’s doubles partner Bruno Soares that Azarenka was available. ‘I wasn’t going to play either year,’ he said. ‘Last year Martina asked me. I could not pass that up. And then Bruno texted me saying: “do you want to play with Azarenka?” It was a great opportunity. It’s worked out and hopefully we can go one more step.’ Azarenka is rebuilding her form and fitness having given birth to Leo, her first child, in december 2016. She conceded just four points on her serve in the match and her returning was brutal as the dart service was exposed. Azarenka has gone toe to toe with Serena Williams in major finals, so she was licking her lips at dart’s 70mph serves.
Clarke and dart almost had the perfect start, earning two break points in Murray’s first service game, but the youngsters fluffed their lines.
From there Azarenka took full control. Murray had little to do other than patrol the net and knock volleys away with his customary precision.
His partner looks a woman on a mission.