Murray and Soares hit form to claim Queen’s title
For the third year in a row, Queen’s has a Murray for a champion – only this time it is the elder brother. Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares must have slept uncomfortably on Saturday night, after their semifinal was suspended by rain, but they reeled off back-to-back victories yesterday to lift the title.
After a disappointing quarterfinal exit from the French Open last month, Murray had sounded ambivalent about whether his partnership with Soares was working. Yes, they won two majors in 2016, but they then had only a single title (Acapulco in early March) to show for their efforts this season.
“We’ll see after Wimbledon,” said a gloomy-sounding Murray.
Such uncertainty must surely have been eased by the past two weeks, in which Murray and Soares have won all eight matches they have played on grass, claiming back-to-back trophies in Stuttgart and now Queen’s.
“It was really weird,” said Murray, after a long day’s tennis at Queen’s. “My heart rate dropped below 180 for the first time when we won the first set in this match” – a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-vasselin in the doubles final. “We also had to get through the semi-final before.”
Murray and Soares’s first job was to dispose of Marin Cilic – who had just lost a lengthy singles final to Feliciano López by a 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 scoreline – and his partner Marcin Matkowski. They managed to close it out by a narrow 1-6, 6-3, 10-8 after missing three match points.
“We had two great events in Stuttgart and here,” said Murray.
“These are the best grass courts to play on. We’ll try our best at Wimbledon.”
Meanwhile, Judy Murray has told Radio 5 Live that she thinks Jamie will team up with brother Andy to have a shot at the Wimbledon doubles title before they retire. “I’m pretty sure before they get to the end of their careers they’re going to have a crack,” she said.
“At the moment while they’re happy and healthy they’re quite happy doing their own thing – but I’m pretty sure you’ll see them playing Wimbledon together before they end their careers.”