Murray hopeful of Azarenka reunion despite losing final

Peya and Melichar claim mixed doubles crown Duo could be reunited at US Open next month

Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka may have lost the final of the Wimbledon mixed doubles, but the good news is that the pair are hopeful of joining together again and have not ruled out a reunion at the US Open.

After they were beaten in straight sets 7-6, 6-3 by Austria’s Alexander Peya and American Nicole Melichar, who were superior on the serve and at the net, both Murray and Azarenka said they were enthusiastic about a possible reunion.

Despite the fact they were playing together for the first time at the All England Club, Murray’s doubles experience and Azarenka’s class as a former world No 1 and two-time grand slam singles champion, looked to be a winning formula.

If they had won on Centre Court yesterday, Murray would have become the first man in 32 years to win two consecutive Wimbledon mixed doubles titles, after his triumph with Martina Hingis last year. He also would have become the first man to win at SW19 with three different partners, as he landed his first grand slam title at Wimbledon in 2007 with Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic.

Murray said of at the prospect of reconnecting with the Belarusian: “I would definitely like to play with Victoria again. For me, it was awesome, I had a great time. She is a great player.” Azarenka was just as eager, but considering the newness of their partnership, he explained that they had not discussed her or Murray’s diaries leading up to the US Open, which starts on Aug 27.

“I would love to play with Jamie again, it has been so much fun over the past two weeks, but I don’t even know Jamie’s schedule after this tournament,” said Azarenka.

Murray will continue to play men’s doubles with long-term partner the Brazilian, Bruno Soares, with whom he won the 2016 Australian and US Open, and he shrugged off any possibility of playing doubles with brother Andy as he tries to get match fit again.

As mixed doubles is something of a tennis anomaly, only played at grand slam tournaments, the Scot was mindful of Azarenka improving her form in the singles as she was knocked out in the second round of Wimbledon by Karolina Pliskova.

He said: “We might play together again, but I hope for Victoria that she gets his her form back in singles and gets a good run of clear fitness