Jamie has to wait to break British Grand Slam record after agonising Aussie KO
Jamie Murray missed out on a new British record of Grand Slam titles by losing in the final of the mixed doubles.
The Scot and his American partner Bethanie Mattek- Sands went down 5-7 6- 4 10-1 to No. 5 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Nikola Mektic.
The Czech-Croatian duo won the final eight points in the match tie-break.
Murray, who still shares the Open era record of seven titles with Virginia Wade, said: “We fought as hard as we could but came up short.
“The tie-break got off to a bad start and got away from us quickly, which was a disappointing way to finish the tournament. But it can happen.
“We had a great tournament. To get to the final is an awesome effort and we had a lot of fun along the way.
“It is just a shame we couldn’t quite finish it.
“But it is always fun playing with Beth – I hope it continues for many more tournaments. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.
“Just because we didn’t win doesn’t mean that we suck.”
Murray and Mattek-Sands made an inauspicious start with the Scot dropping his serve in the first game.
It stayed that way until Mektic served for the set at 5- 4 and sent down a double fault on the deciding point.
Murray and Mattek- Sands seized their second opportunity with relish, breaking Krejcikova’s serve to take the set as Mattek- Sands threaded a backhand down the line.
It was the Murray serve that proved vulnerable again in the fifth game of the second set, although the BritishAmerican pair could count themselves unlucky as the ball kicked up off the net cord and made life difficult on the volley for Mattek- Sands. The American’s serve was then broken and, although Murray and Mattek-Sands retrieved one of the breaks, Krejcikova and Mektic pushed the match into a deciding tie-break.
That proved to be one-way traffic as the Czech- Croatian duo won the final eight points.
Dominic Thiem lines up against Novok Djokovic in today’s men singles final hoping to defy the odds.
And the Austrian has done his talking on the court after sacking Thomas Muster from his coaching team after only two matches in Melbourne because the former world No.1 yapped too much.
The world No.5, who reached the last two French Open finals, hired his fellow Austrian to help him win his first Grand Slam. But Thiem dismissed the 1995 Roland Garros champion after only a fortnight together.
Dad Wolfgang explained: “After two weeks, Dominic said that it doesn’t fit.
“Of course, he was a really good player.
“But for me the most important thing is that the coach understands what the player needs and not that the coach wants to make a copy of himself.
“Dominic is already 26 years so he needs someone who gives him the space, who gives him the free space to develop, to play his game.
“He always needs some advice, but short advice. If you have someone who says too much, who is too much into it, then it doesn’t work.”
Djokovic is the red-hot favourite to win his eighth Australian Open and 17th Grand Slam title.