New York: Jamie Murray almost retired a few years ago, frustrated by the usual blights of his sport: injury, ordinary results and the grind of playing in front of a handful of spectators on the doubles circuit, while his younger brother, Andy, was creating back-page headlines.
But, in Andy’s absence, it was the elder Murray who made more tennis history here on Saturday, in front of a decent-sized crowd on the US Open’s main court, Arthur Ashe, when he combined with 36-year-old Martina Hingis to win their second mixed doubles slam of the season by beating Taipei’s Chan Hao-ching and the New Zealander Michael Venus 6-1, 4-6 (10-8) in 69 breezy minutes.
Murray said courtside: “She’s an amazing player, had such a great career. We’ve had a lot of fun, and three times have won 10-8. Hopefully we’ll play more.” Hingis, on the 20th anniversary of beating Venus Williams here in the singles final, said: “My love for the game is my motivation. He’s a great partner to have, carrying me a lot of the time with his wing span.”
They are unbeaten in 10 matches since they got together at Wimbledon and there is no reason to think the partnership will not endure alongside Murray’s combination with Bruno Soares in the men’s doubles.
In all, he has two slam titles with the Brazilian, two with Hingis and one, his first in 2007, with Jelena Jankovic. On a mild Saturday afternoon at Flushing Meadows, all went like a Swiss clock in the first set as Hingis and Murray obliterated the limp, nervous challenge of Chan and Venus in 22 minutes for the loss of 13 points.
It was too easy. The crowd grew restless. However, Chan and Venus put up stiffer resistance in the second set, forcing the championship tiebreak, where Murray regained his touch at the net and hit the spots with a couple of crucial serves. He finished the job with an exuberant cross court smash.
—Guardian News & Media Ltd