If the text had come from anyone else, Jamie Murray would not have a second Wimbledon mixed doubles title to his name.
Thankfully, that fateful text came from Martina Hingis, with an offer that Murray felt duty-bound to accept and he now boasts a fourth Grand Slam title after he and the Swiss Miss defeated defending champions Henri Kontinen and Heather Watson 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court.
Having not played mixed doubles at Wimbledon in the past two years, and the men’s event being his primary goal for the season with partner Bruno Soares, Murray admitted that only the offer from Hingis would have convinced him to play a second event at SW19.
And ten years on from his famous victory alongside Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic at the Championships, he struggled to compare the two achievements.
“The first time I won, it was the first time I ever played mixed doubles. I was young, first year playing on the tour. It’s just different,” said the 31-year-old.
“It’s ten years later. Obviously it took me a long time to get a second one. But yeah, I really enjoyed the whole week. It’s a great achievement.
“Any time you win a Grand Slam, get your name up on the board again, it’s there forever, no-one will take it away from you.”
Defeat for Watson and Kontinen was the first time they had ever lost as a pair – in a strange Centre Court atmosphere with no clear crowd favourite.
The Brit also made the third round of the women’s singles event and will once again be ranked inside the world’s top 100.
But when asked whether she and Kontinen will rekindle their partnership anywhere other than next year’s Wimbledon, she was unsure.
“I haven’t asked Henri yet, but I hope he says yes,” said the 25-year-old.
“It was a strange feeling today, we haven’t felt it yet together. Hopefully we don’t feel it again.
“But I’d love to play with Henri again, and hopefully before next year.
“It’s really fun to play in an atmosphere where the crowd’s all for you. But it was still so enjoyable to play today. It was nice that both teams were getting a lot of support.
“They’re a really tough team. We knew that going in. I thought Martina served particularly well today and Jamie at the net is very good and very big.”
SSE, the energy behind Andy Murray Live 2017 returns for a second year to The SSE Hydro in Glasgow. SSE do more for their customers, providing access to exclusive sport and entertainment reward offers and they’re giving customers the chance to win amazing experience packages to this year’s already sold out event. Sign up to #SSEReward now for free ssereward.com/competition
