Jonny O’Mara leaves Wimbledon having had more fun than ever before at SW19.
Scotland’s O’Mara, who benefits from the LTA’s NTC Access programme, providing cost-free access to courts, coaching, trainers and the LTA’s tournament bonus scheme, saw his campaign come to an end with a 6-3 6-1 loss to Matt Ebden and Sam Stosur alongside Alicia Barnett in the mixed doubles.
However, his time at the All England Club may be best remembered for the epic match he and Barnett contested against Jamie Murray and Venus Williams, saving five match points to win 18-16 in the third set tiebreak.
That match will be one that in particular lives long in the memory, having played Murray and Williams in front of a packed Court 2.
He said: “It’s been great fun. Mixed is a tournament you want to have a bit more fun in and we definitely did that.
“I think obviously it’s a shame what happened, the scoreline wasn’t that close but I think the match was close – lots of long games, and if we’d snuck a couple of them you would never have known what would have happened.
“To walk away from this Wimbledon with an experience of beating Jamie and Venus on Court 2, 18-6 in a mad tiebreak is something we’ll remember forever, so I’m just glad to be a part of that one really.
“I’ve had a few long tiebreakers, I had one in Australia that was pretty epic and had a good one in Nottingham this year, but nothing like that – it was wild.
“I thought we’d won it about six times, I thought we’d lost it about six times and the crowd, it was the loudest crowd I’d ever played with. It was just so much fun.”
The 27-year-old also had a strong campaign in the men’s doubles, receiving a wildcard alongside Ken Skupski and reaching the third round in his partner’s final ever tournament.
Having never done that well at his home Grand Slam previously, his performances this year have given him memories to cherish.
“I’ve always done badly at Wimbledon and I’ve never really enjoyed the experience,” he added.
“My first Wimbledon was great when I got in with Scott Clayton and we managed to get a win there but it was with a walkover after a set and half. This year’s been great. It was the one thing I wanted. “Before coming into this event I was speaking to my coach and my family and I said that one of things I wanted from Wimbledon – it’s the tournament we watch growing up, it’s the most prestigious tournament in the world, but I haven’t really got a good memory from it. Every other Slam I’ve been fortunate enough to have a memory that I’ve absolutely loved.
“I think I’ve done more than that this year with Ken in the Men’s doubles, we had two brilliant wins and one on Court 18, a great win in the second round, and then obviously two great fun mixed matches with Alicia – one absolutely wild match – which is what I was looking for.
“When I look back on my time at Wimbledon, I can always tick that box of this being a hugely insane week.”
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