IT is quite a record. For the fifth year out of six, a Murray brother will grace Centre Court for a Wimbledon final. Who knows, there may even be two in attendance, although Andy gets so nervous watching his brother Jamie play his matches that he watched his famous 2007 mixed doubles win with Jelena Jankovic from the BBC Five Live commentary booth then cut a barely recognisable low key figure beneath a baseball cap and hoodie as he and John Peers went down to Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in the 2015 men’s doubles showpiece.
In truth, nerves are only part of the story, as Andy correctly discerns that his presence on such occasions only tends to detract and distract from the efforts of his big brother.
But the rest of the family will be out in force. And whether the world’s No 1 singles player with the injured hip makes an appearance or not, it is the elder Murray sibling who will be the star of the show on Sunday, not to mention a partner in Martina Hingis who is reminding everyone just how impressive a player she always was.
Jamie cuts a more worldly wise and mature figure than the wide-eyed bushy haired 21-year-old who flirted his way to the title with Jankovic a decade ago, but this pairing’s love for the sport is apparent and there will be few more popular winners if they can claim back this title and the £100,000 cheque which goes along with it.
Considering the stranglehold that these Scottish siblings have been shown to exert - the Swiss, a five-times doubles title winner here, is hardly a stranger to the winners’ rostrum either - the real novelty factor around Sunday’s match resides in the fact that Jamie will actually face a British opponent in the final. The presence of reigning champions Heather Watson and her partner Henri Kontinen - a Finn who has supplanted Jamie at the top of the men’s doubles rankings - in the showpiece means this is the first Briton v Briton Wimbledon final since 1961, when Angela Mortimer (now Barrett) got the better of Christine Janes (now Trueman) in the ladies singles final. Just for good measure, Hingis goes into the match hoping for “revenge” for knocking her and Leander Paes ou of this competition at the last 15 stage 12 months ago.
“It [five finals for the family in six years] is a good record,” said Jamie. “It is good news for us. It is cool to be out on Centre Court again. I am excited to play the final on Sunday. I don’t know what I’ll be thinking, I’ll find out on Sunday. But I’ve got a lot more experience under my belt since 2007. I have played a lot more big matches, especially in the last two or three years. I have no idea whether Andy will be there. Maybe he comes, we will see.”
Despite having a US Open mixed doubles final on his resume, when he played with Liezel Huber in 2008, Jamie wouldn’t even have participated in this competition had Hingis not got in touch. But accepting the invite may just be the best thing he has done. At times in the first set of their 6-2, 7-5 demolition of Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain this doubles dream team were utterly untouchable, to the point where the Centre Court crowd even ironically jeered when they permitted their opponents a point. Jamie said “for his part” he would be happy to keep the arrangement going at the other slams.
“I hope so, from my side,” he said. “It is easier to play the other tournaments because it is two sets and a tie-break. Here everything is full scoring. But if you have a great partner it makes it easier to commit.
Kontinen is difficult to play, he is just hitting everything as hard as he can, and Heather is a good doubles player. She has good feel, good timing.
Hingis was non committal but said that the Scot was measuring up to expectations. “Very much so. Every match we have got better. When we played the first set like that it was pretty nice to be out there, having the crowd on our side and everything. Things were just clicking, it was pretty cool tennis, and to be out on Centre Court was a joy.”
She had been delighted her countryman Roger Federer had got finished early, so they could get the job done before dark. “We were urging Roger to win,” said Hingis. “ It was nice that he finished in three and fast and we got to play in centre.” Yet yesterday, like so often in mixed doubles, was a waiting game, hanging around before being placed on a court. As Jamie said, the court, and even the Royal Box, isn’t always so full. “On Thursday when we started the match there was five people in the box,” he said. “It was the President of the LTA and his wife, David Cameron and his mum and John Bercow [the speaker of the House of Commons]. It was pretty easy to spot them.”
The 31-year-old was far more impressed by meeting astronaut Tim Peake, a man who is used to hanging out with the stars. Whether Andy turns up or not on Sunday, it is his big brother who is sure to get star billing.
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