By Ros Satar
- 2007 Mixed Doubles champion Jamie Murray reaches first Men’s Doubles Slam final with partner John Peers
- Defeated Jonathan Erlich & Philipp Petzschner 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2
- Murray & Peers have five tour titles to date
WIMBLEDON, UK – Jamie Murray has guaranteed at least one Brit in a Wimbledon final after he and Australian partner John Peers won their semi-final on Thursday.
Murray and Peers got the better of 2010 men’s doubles champion Philipp Petzschner and Jonathan Erlich on Thursday, rallying from a set down to play in their first Slam final as a paring, on Saturday.
Murray acknowledged that it had been a tough semi-final to play, knowing that former Australian Open doubles champion Erlich was struggling with a knee injury that prevented him from even sitting at the change of ends.
“It was a weird match because, for us, me personally, I don’t know how John was feeling, it was a weird atmosphere because Johnny, he was clearly injured. He was struggling with his knee. Mentally it was quite difficult for us. It’s the biggest match of our careers. Down the other end is a guy on one leg,” said Murray after the match.
“It’s a strange one to be faced with that. I took a little while to get going. Kind of always felt we were going to find a way if we kind of kept at it.”
Injury concerns had dogged this partnership too, with Peers suffering from a groin strain that kept him out until just before their first round match.
Peers said: “Actually I haven’t had any pain in the groin since Tuesday the first week, so I got lucky that we started on Thursday so I could actually get a couple of days to actually get it going. Touch wood, it’s got back to normal.”
Murray continued: “He didn’t play nine or ten days there, keeping fresh.”
Many will remember Murray flirting his way to his first Slam title, albeit in the Mixed Doubles with Jelena Jankovic in a rain-sodden Wimbledon, which saw them play five matches in three days, but this year he opted out of the Mixed (although Peers did play, partnering Chan Yung-Jan).
“I was having problems with my right shoulder which was bothering me in the lead-up to the whole tournament. I thought if I want to get well for the doubles, I’m just wasting energy, stressing my shoulder, to keep playing extra matches that could be a waste of time.
“We played two long five‑set matches as well this week. I think it paid off not to play mixed.”
They will face Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, who are the fourth seeds here, and who beat them earlier this year in the Rotterdam final, beating them in the final set tie-break.
While this is Rojer’s first Grand Slam final, Tecau is in his fourth, and finished as a runner-up at Wimbledon three years in a row (2010-2012) when partnering Robert Lindstedt.
They battled through a tough five-setter against Rohann Bopanna and Florin Mergea, 4-6 6-2 6-3 4-6 13-11.
“It was a fight in the whole fifth set,” said Tecau. “It felt like every point we were winning we were getting energy… It could have gone either way. We had a good run in the Slams this year. It feels great to win again and to be in a first [Grand Slam] final together here. We’re really happy and we’re going to enjoy Saturday.”
The men’s doubles final will be played on Saturday, and you can follow using the
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