A tale of two Murrays as tired Andy pulls out
While little brother Andy pulled out of the Citi Open in Washington last week after reaching the quarter-finals, Jamie Murray and his partner Bruno Soares clinched doubles glory.
Up against Mike Bryan and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the final, the Dunblane/Brazilian double act came back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 10-4.
It was Murray and Soares’ eighth tour-level victory together and second of the season after also triumphing in Acapulco.
“It feels great to lift a trophy,” said Jamie afterwards.“We played a lot of great tennis with some challenging moments especially after losing the first set in the final, but we played better today on returns and made some important balls.
“It gives us a lot of confidence going into the two Masters 1000 events coming up in Toronto and Cincinnati.”
This week, the duo are playing in the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Seeded six, they have received a bye in the first round and will be on court later in the week.
Brother Andy is missing the Rogers Cup after pulling out of his Citi Open quarter-final against Aussie Alex de Minaur, citing fatigue.
His third-round match against Romanian Marius Copil finished at 3am (Washington time) and he played three hours in winning 6-7 6-3 7-6.
He ended the match slumped in his chair, overcome with emotion, and later decided to pull out.
He said:“I’m exhausted after playing so much over the past four days, having not competed on the hard courts for 18 months. I also need to be careful and to listen to my body as I come back from a long-term injury.
“I’ll take some time to rest and recover, and then head to Cincinnati early to prepare and get ready.”
In his third tournament back from hip surgery in January, the Scot showed signs of improvement, reaching his first quarter-final in more than a year. The 31 year-old had three wins – all going to three sets – totalling eight hours and 12 minutes.
His run has also helped boost his ranking; he is now up to No 375 in the world, a rise of 457 places. He is also ranked No 8 in Britain.