French Open: Murray & Soares bow out

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By Glenys Furness

  • Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares bow out in Round three
  • Marcin Matkowski & Leander Paes def. Murray & Soares 7-6(5) 7-6(4)

PARIS, FRANCE Jamie Murray’s men’s doubles back to back Grand Slam title dream ended with a straight sets defeat.

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Murray & Bruno Soares dream of back to back grand slam titles came to an abrupt end today. Against the 16th seeds Marcin Matkowski & Leander Paes the reigning Australian Open champions had a difficult match up.

The fourth seeds managed to create five break point chances on the Polish/Indian team, but were only able to convert one. Matkowski & Paes converted the only one break point chance on the Murray & Soares game as the set headed to the tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, the Brit/Brazilian managed to stay close to the Polish/Indian pairing. A mini break in favour of Matkowski & Paes had the 16th seeds in front, eventually they edged the tiebreak 7-5,

In the second set Murray & Soares fought hard to try and level up the match. The nerves appeared to be showing though as the fourth seeds served up two double faults and no aces.

Just like the first set, both sides managed one break of serve, this time it was Matkowski & Paes who created more opportunities but only converted the once. The Brit/Brazilian once again headed into a tiebreak with the 16th seeds.

The second set tiebreak was another tense affair, however this time the Polish/Indian created a bigger lead, eventually taking the tiebreak 7-4 to take out the Australian Open champions.

Murray is still in the French Open, as top seed with Hao-Ching Chan in the mixed doubles. Their second round opponents were Alla Kudryavtseva & Rohan Bopanna. The Russian/Indian started the better as the top seeds were struggling with their game.

Kudryavtseva & Bopanna managed to break the Brit/Taipei team twice in the first set, taking the lead with a 6-2 scoreline.

Murray & Chan were playing much better in the second set, only dropping serve once. The top seeds managed to break the Russian/Indian team twice and level up the match, taking the set 6-3. It would be a match tiebreak to decide the winners.

The match tiebreak is a first to ten (with two clear points) shootout, played at most doubles events except Wimbledon. Murray & Chan were kept close by Kudryavtseva & Bopanna until right at the end, when the top seeds edged the match tiebreak 10-8.

 

Play resumes at 10am BST Monday 30th May