The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Murray sad to see brother’s struggles
Jamie Murray found it sad to watch brother Andy struggling with injury in his Wimbledon quarter-final loss to Sam Querrey.
The world No 1 battled a hip problem all tournament and lost 12 of the last 13 games in a five-set defeat on Wednesday.
Jamie, who is still going in the tournament after reaching the mixed doubles semi-finals with Martina Hingis, said: “I just messaged him last night saying ‘Bad luck’ and ‘How are you?’.
“Obviously he was disappointed to lose but he’d been battling the last couple of weeks with his hip and for him the most important thing is just to get that sorted and do what needs to be done to get back on the court feeling 100%.
“I thought he played really well at the start of the match. It probably just got worse and worse as the tournament went on.
“Like he always does, he fought as hard as he could, and even though it was kind of sad to see him like that, he did his best.
“He’s my brother, you don’t like seeing him in pain obviously. You could kind of tell he wasn’t going to be able to get through the match so it was difficult but it’s sport, that happens.
“Unfortunately it came at a time where there was a huge event for him and I just hope he can get the necessary treatment, diagnosis, or whatever, rest and come back stronger than he was before.”
Novak Djokovic did not even finish his quarter-final because of an elbow injury, leaving Roger Federer as the clear favourite to win the men’s title.
Andy Murray and Djokovic have both turned 30 this year, and Jamie believes Federer’s success after two lengthy breaks in the last 12 months will give all the older players food for thought.
“I don’t know exactly how he’s feeling and how his body is but I’m sure at some point he will have to manage his workload,” Jamie said of his brother.
“Federer’s obviously done an amazing job with that. He’s coming in fresh, he’s looking forward to playing, and he’s got a great chance to win again. I’m sure guys – not just Andy – will probably look at that and learn from that.”
Murray and Hingis are the top seeds in the doubles and beat all-British pair Ken Skupski and Jocelyn Rae 6-4 6-4.
Defending champions Heather Watson and Finn Henri Kontinen are also through after a 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-5 win over Rohan Bopanna of India and Canadian Gaby Dabrowski.
Murray and Watson cannot meet until the final, and it will be a familiar face on the other side of the net whatever for Murray if he and Hingis make it past Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner and Spaniard Maria Martinez Sanchez.
The Scot’s men’s doubles partner, Brazilian Bruno Soares, will take on Watson and Kontinen in the last four with Russian Elena Vesnina.