High five! A throwback to Jamie Murray’s five Grand Slam triumphs
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Jamie Murray has enjoyed an illustrious career to date, embellished with 19 ATP doubles titles, a historic Davis Cup trophy and a memorable stint as year-end doubles world No.1. However, the 2017 US Open marked a new record for the British star as he heroically claimed his fifth Grand Slam title.
Since capturing his maiden Grand Slam trophy ten years ago, the Brit has continued to shine on court, and to celebrate his latest achievement, we’re throwing it back to his five Grand Slam triumphs.
1. The maiden Slam
There may have been more rain than average at The Championships, Wimbledon 2007, but a 21-year-old Jamie Murray brightened things up when he claimed the first British title at the grass-court Grand Slam for 20 years.
Having been a fairly new face to the circuit, it was the first time in his career that his ranking allowed him to enter a Grand Slam mixed doubles event. With the help of his agent, a partnership with Serbian star Jelena Jankovic was arranged and before they knew it, they’d set up a final with Jonas Bjorkman and Alcia Molik – a doubles team who had eleven Grand Slam titles between them.
Murray and Jankovic sealed the opening set, but their opponents proved resilient and took the second. It all came down to the third and decisive set, but the unseeded pair marched on to claim a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win.
2. Delights Down Under
Murray’s second title came nine years later when he became the first Brit to win the Australian Open men’s double title in 82 years. The first Grand Slam of the 2016 season marked his maiden major with Brazilian partner Bruno Soares, and what a way to kickstart a new doubles partnership!
The pair faced Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek in the final – an accomplished duo with ten titles between them. Nestor and Stepanek started strong and claimed the opening set, but Murray and Soares battled back to win their first Grand Slam together with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory.
3. Big Apple champions
The duo continued to dominate the doubles court and it didn’t take long till they lifted their second Grand Slam trophy together. Playing at the 2016 US Open, they fought past French top seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the semi-finals to set up a final with unseeded Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
The fourth seeds clinched a straight-forward 6-2, 6-3 victory and Murray made more history by becoming the first British man in 44 years to claim the men’s doubles crown at Flushing Meadows.
4. A special tenth year anniversary
Ten years on from sealing his first title at SW19, Murray teamed up with Martina Hingis when the Swiss superstar expressed an interest in a partnership prior to The Championships. She was rightfully onto something, as the doubles team sailed through to the final without dropping a single set.
The top seeds found themselves up against defending champions Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen in the final showdown, but impressively prevailed 6-4, 6-4 to lift the trophy.
5. A five-star performance
Murray and Hingis fans were happy to see the pair reunite just two months later for the US Open and they were not left disappointed. Despite a trickier route to the title, with three of their matches going to championship tiebreaks, a 6-1, 4-6, [10-8] victory against Michael Venus and Chan Hao-ching meant a perfect 10-0 winning record for the team and a second Slam triumph.
Finally, the result helped Murray write his name into the history books once more, by becoming the first British man to win the US Open mixed doubles since 1968.
