Murray homing in on repeat of 2007 mixed doubles triumph
A Murray carrying the hopes of a nation three days from the end of Wimbledon is nothing new.
This year, however, it is Jamie shouldering the burden after he and Martina Hingis cruised into the mixed doubles semi-finals.
Although not the last Briton standing, Murray has nevertheless inherited the mantle of flag-bearer from his younger brother and Johanna Konta and everything which comes with it.
“It’s nice to still be in obviously, still winning and still playing at the end of the fortnight,” he said after a 6-4, 6-4 win over Ken Skupski and Jocelyn Rae. “Our goal is to win. We’ve still got to do two matches. We’re getting closer.”
With Murray’s younger brother out because of injury and Roger Federer and Venus Williams on an unstoppable march to the singles finals, Wimbledon 2017 is beginning to look more and more like Wimbledon 2007.
If so, then a second mixed-doubles title surely beckons for Murray, who claimed the crown a decade ago with Jelena Jankovic.
The 31 year-old looks to be enjoying himself just as much this year in a new partnership that has justified its top-seeded status.
He and Hingis were certainly on the same wavelength when they broke their opponents in each set, first when Murray took charge at the net, and secondly when his brilliant lob set up break point after a bout of close-range pinball.
Hingis was still playing singles in 2007 and, before yesterday, must have experienced virtually everything tennis had to offer other than playing with a Brit on Centre Court. “Definitely helps,” she smiled when asked how it had felt. “I was counting on that.”
For the second time since they teamed up, Murray and Hingis had to knock out a British pair in order to progress.
“I was watching them play last night,” Murray said of wild cards Skupski and Rae, who had beaten Max Mirnyi and Ekaterina Makarova in a titanic tussle on Wednesday evening. “It was cool that there are still British players to play later in the second week of grand slams.”
There could yet be two British players in the final after defending champions Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen came from a set down to beat Rohan Bopanna and Gabriela Dabrowski.
In a match played on Centre Court immediately after Murray and Hingis’s triumph, Watson and Kontinen treated the crowd to an early-evening nail-biter, eventually triumphing 6-7, 6-4, 7-5.
The denouement featured two epic games, the first which Watson won with a cross-court to secure the break. After dropping serve in the next, she made amends by securing another break at 5-5 before holding her nerve to serve out the match.
Watson refused to speculate afterwards about a potential final against Murray and Hingis, saying: “We’ve got to win the semis first. I don’t even know who we play.”
Lying in wait are the second seeds, Murray’s doubles partner, Bruno Soares, and Elena Vesnina. However, she did admit it would be “awesome” to defend the title, revealing she kept her trophy from last year underneath her television and insisting there was plenty of room for a second.
Next up in Murray’s quest for his own second title are Marcelo Demoliner and Maria Jose Martinez Sánchez.
As for the prospect of him being cheered by his younger brother, whose hip injury finally caught up with him on Wednesday, Murray said: “I don’t know. He probably doesn’t want to be sitting down for that amount of time.”