Jamie Murray becomes first Briton to reach 1000 tour-level doubles matches
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Former world No.1 and seven-time men’s and mixed doubles Grand Slam champion Jamie Murray has made more history this week – playing his 1000th tour-level match in Indian Wells.
Murray is the first British player to achieve this feat and is one of only two currently active players to go past the 1000 match mark, joining Brazil’s Marcelo Melo.
Murray’s latest record came in a hard-fought comeback win alongside Adam Pavlasek in the opening round of Indian Wells – knocking out Ariel Behar and Robert Galloway 2-6, 7-6(5), 12-10.
Since making his tour-level debut in Nottingham with his brother Andy, Murray has gone on to have one of the greatest careers in British tennis history and continues to compete at the top of the game.
In his 1000 matches, Murray has won 34 tour-level titles – with the highlights coming in 2016, where he teamed up with Bruno Soares to win men’s doubles at both the Australian Open and US Open.
He is one of four active British men's doubles players to have won a Grand Slam in the last 10 years but was the first of the four to do so.
In that year Murray also reached the summit of world No.1 and finished the year ranked as the top doubles player in the world, while his brother also reached the peak of the singles rankings.
In an interview with ATPTour.com, Murray said: “It is something I'm proud of and I think it shows longevity, being able to play on the Tour for that long and still be going.
“I had zero awareness of it, to be honest, until Dubai actually and someone asked me how many matches I've played. I thought I'd only played like 800, so that was kind of a pleasant surprise.”
A former Davis Cup champion, Masters title-winner in Cincinnati, a five-time ATP Finalist and a past victor at The Queen’s Club – where he is now the Tournament Director for the HSBC Championships – Murray has won a tour-level title in all but two years since 2007.
Murray is currently ranked at world No.25 coming off the back of a season where he won three titles in Doha, Basel and Belgrade and is showing no signs of slowing down.
“It's exciting for me that I still feel that I've got the level to get out and still play these big tournaments and compete and potentially win them,” Murray added. “So, I think as long as I'm able to do that and my ranking is getting me into the events, then I want to keep playing as long as I'm enjoying it and my body feels good.
“I think once it finishes, it's gone forever, right? So many ex-players tell me, 'Play as long as you can, play as long as you can'. Nothing compares when you move into that different phase of your life.”
Murray will return to action in the second round at Indian Wells up against Jiri Lehecka and Alejandro Tabilo. The 39-year-old is going in search of his first career title in the Californian desert.
