It’s Murray v Murray: Brothers to meet in doubles
Andy and Jamie go head-to-head for the first time
ANDY MURRAY will f ace his brother Jamie for the first time in a tour event when they go head-to-head in the doubles at t he Rogers Cup in Montreal tomorrow.
The mouth-watering prospect of brother facing brother became a reality yesterday when Andy and 42-year-old partner Leander Paes made l i ght work of Kevin Anderson and Jeremy Chardy, sweeping them aside 6-3, 6-1 in the first round.
With elder brother Jamie and his partner John Peers awaiting the winners, the Murray family is preparing for a unique experience.
Although the pair once played each other in one singles set at a Turbo Tennis exhibition event in London in 2007 — Andy won comfortably — this would be the fi r st t i me t hat t he Murray brothers have faced each other on the tour.
Last month they joined forces in the doubles rubber of the Davis Cup quarter-final against France, beating Nicolas Mahut and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets.
Jamie and Peers are currently in fine form and on course to qualify for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena for the first time after recently winning the German Open in Hamburg and r eaching t he Wimbledon final.
‘I’ve never played my brother since we became professionals,’ said Andy. ‘Obviously, we played a lot against each other as juniors in local competitions and around Great Britain.
‘But we haven’t played each other for a very long time. It will be nice in some ways to do it, although it’s not easy.
‘Serena and Venus (Williams) have done that playing for Grand Slams. I can’t imagine how difficult that is.
‘Playing in the second round of the doubles is a little bit more relaxed than those occasions, but it still won’t be easy if we have to play each other.’
Murray can overtake Roger Federer as the world No 2 if he reaches the singles final this week. He opens against Tommy Robredo — who beat Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 last night — in the second round today.
It is his first competition since announcing he is to become a father and Murray has said that he and wife Kim are ‘excited’ and ‘lucky’ with the couple’s first child due next February.
Murray said: ‘ I’m not thinking what the impact will have on my career. I’m more concerned about the baby being healthy.
‘We are both extremely excited, happy and we feel lucky. But this is also private news and stuff we want to keep close to our family and friends. I hope that everybody can respect that.’
Rafa Nadal, meanwhile, says his mental stability has returned after a topsy-turvy year for the former world No 1.
The 29-year-old Spaniard arrived in Canada last week for the start of the North American hardcourt swing, having picked up his third title of the year in Hamburg.
He will now hope to build on that as he attempts to claim a fourth Rogers Cup title.
Nadal — who was beaten by lowly-ranked Dustin Brown in the second round at Wimbledon — told the ATP’s website: ‘It’s always about adapting your tennis’, as he discussed the challenges in store over the next few weeks leading up to the U.S. Open.
‘There is a different way of hitting the ball but, at the end of the day, it’s still tennis. Hamburg had been a positive week for me.
‘Mentally, I was stable all week, something that I wasn’t able to achieve very often this season.
‘My mental powers had been up and down but I am working well now.’
Twice U. S. Open champion Nadal, seeded seventh this year, faces a potential quarter-final in Montreal with world No 4 Kei Nishikori who opened his hardcourt season with the title in Washington at the weekend.