Jamie Murray says brother Andy is more than welcome to end his courtside exile after storming into the gentleman’s doubles semi-final at Wimbledon – but don’t expect him to cheer the British number one tomorrow on Centre.
They are the brothers who refuse to watch each other play. Andy, because he believes he is a jinx to his older sibling and Jamie because, well, he can’t be bothered.
No family divide whatsoever, put simply he is just not a big watcher of the sport and would rather leave the court hopping to proud mum Judy.
They are both missing out. Andy’s achievements are obvious, but the player who can walk around Wimbledon totally unrecognised is enjoying one of his biggest moments where he has always played the role of the understudy.
After creating his own bit of history when the Scot and deadly partner John Peers squeaked past American Jack Sock and Canadian Vasek Pospisil in five sets to reach the quarter-finals for the first time yesterday, they were in no mood leave it at that.
Their cutting 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over Austria’s Alexander Peya and Brazilian Bruce Soares on Court 2 today was as simple as it was effective.
They will now take on the winner of the Jonathan Erlich and Philipp Petzschner versus Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo match in the final four.
“I have lost a lot of matches when he hasn’t been there so I’m not sure he’s a jinx,” said Murray of his younger brother.
“He is welcome to come and watch me if he wants to on Thursday. Tomorrow I will probably watch his match on TV but I won’t go to the stadium, no. I would be great for both of us to be in the semi-finals – I think he will have too much for Pospisil over five sets but he’s a good player, it won’t be easy.
“I think I am playing the best I’ve ever done. We’ve moving in the right direction certainly. It’s not a shock to me, I know we’re good – we deserve to be where we are.
“We played a solid match, it wasn’t amazingly spectacular but we were good value for the win. We had good energy from the start.
“This year is a good breakthrough for us. We’ll keep trying hard to get better, we are tough opposition once we get going.
“We fancy our chances whoever is on the other side of the net and the semi final can’t come around quickly enough.”
Feature image courtesy of ATP Tour, via Youtube, with thanks
