Doubles marathon

BRITISH duo Dominic Inglot and Johanna Konta enjoyed a memorable doubles victory last night at Wimbledon as they won a thrilling 36-game deciding set to see off Spanish opponents.

In a first-round match which lasted just under three hours, the home mixed pair got the better of Nicolas Almagro and MariaTeresa Torro-Flor, surviving 4-6 6-3 19-17 on Court 12.

It was a second success of the day for Inglot, the 27-yearold Londoner, who had already combined with Philippines player Treat Huey to beat Andre Begemann and Martin Emmerich. The mighty American Bryan brothers await Huey and Inglot in the third round.

There would be no doubles joy for British number one Laura Robson though as she and American partner Lisa Raymond were bounced out.

Having secured thrilling progress to the fourth round of the singles on Court Two earlier in the day, Robson returned to the scene of that success along with veteran Raymond but they lost 6-4 6-4 to Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke.

Jamie Murray and Australian partner John Peers were edged out in their opener as they lost a marathon deciding set to James Blake and Jurgen Melzer. American Blake and Austrian Melzer eventually came out on top by a 3-6 6-3 6-4 3-6 14-12 margin.

Jamie Murray’s mixed doubles match in the company of Hsieh SuWei was abandoned for the night due to fading light, as they faced a 5-3 deficit in the deciding set against Jean-Julien Rojer and Vera Dushevina.

Jamie Delgado’s campaign in the men’s doubles ended when he and Australian Matthew Ebden lost in straight sets to India’s Leander Paes and Czech Radek Stepanek, while Delgado and Tara Moore were beaten by Fabio Fognini and Flavia Pennetta in mixed.

In the other completed match, Liverpool’s Ken Skupski and Belgian Xavier Malisse were undone by Aisam Qureshi and Rojer.