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Reluctant Hero

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6280592.stm

Murray and Jankovic reach final

Britain's Jamie Murray reached Sunday's mixed doubles final with partner Jelena Jelena Jankovic after winning their second match of the day on Saturday.
They won 6-4 4-6 6-4 against 11th seeds Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovtseva in a late-evening Centre Court semi-final.

Murray and Jankovic had earlier beaten ninth seeds Marcin Matkowski and Cara Black 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (4-7) 7-5.

In the final they face either Jonas Bjorkman and Alicia Molik or Fabrice Santoro and Severine Bremond.

They have to play their semi-final in Sunday's first match on Court 13 at 1200 BST.

The winners then meet Murray and Jankovic in the second match on Centre Court, following the men's singles final.

The British-Serbian pair had to call on all their reserves of energy against Nestor and Likhovtseva, who earlier beat British duo Alex Bogdanovic and Melanie South 6-3 7-6 (7-4), after their marathon quarter-final victory.

Murray and Jankovic needed two hours, 32 minutes to overcome Matkowski and Black on a packed Court Three. They wasted five match points in a match which only featured three breaks of serve.

Murray needed an injury time-out during the second set when he had strapping put on his right foot but overcame the problem to earn victory. And then he and Jankovic, who reached the fourth round of the women's singles, delighted the Centre Court crowd with their bonus appearance.

They took the first set and did not concede a break point until the 10th game of the second set - and that allowed their opponents to level the match.

But they forced breaks from both opponents in the decider to secure their place on the final day of the Championships.

Murray will now hope to become the first British title winner at Wimbledon since 1987 when Jeremy Bates and Jo Durie won the mixed doubles.

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Reluctant Hero · Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:08 pm Post subject:

Murray and Jankovic won Very Happy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6282720.stm

Murray wins Wimbledon mixed title

Jamie Murray became the first Briton for 20 years to win a senior title at Wimbledon as he and Serbia's Jelena Jankovic won the mixed doubles.

The 21-year-old Scot, elder brother of British number one Andy, follows in the footsteps of Jeremy Bates and Jo Durie, who won the same title in 1987.

Murray and Jankovic beat fifth seeds Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Australia's Alicia Molik 6-4 3-6 6-1.

It was the last match of the tournament and was played on Centre Court.

After a pulsating men's final the arena was empty for the start of the mixed final, but it soon filled up with spectators keen to witness a small moment of British tennis history.

The home favourite did not make the best of starts, dropping serve straight away, but Murray and Jankovic soon recovered the break.

And when doubles expert Bjorkman was broken in game nine, Murray and Jankovic held onto the advantage to seal the first set.

It was a different story in the second, however, as the fifth seeds raced into a 5-1 lead and quickly got back on level terms.

The momentum appeared to be with the more established pair but it was not the case.

Bjorkman was broken to love in the second game of the deciding set and, with the Wimbledon crowd increasingly vociferous, a second break followed in game six.

It fell to the beaming Jankovic to serve out and she did so comfortably, sealing a first Grand Slam title for both players.

An elated Murray said: "I don't know if it's sunk in, but it feels pretty good."

He paid tribute to his Serbian partner, the world number three in singles but a self-confessed doubles novice.

"She won the match in the end because she kept returning the guy's serve and I couldn't do it," he said.

Jankovic, who lost to eventual finalist Marion Bartoli in the fourth round of the women's singles, admitted that a first Grand Slam win was especially sweet.

"It's really an incredible feeling for me to be there and to hold the trophy," she said.

"It's something that I always dreamed of, and I would love one day to have that feeling with the singles trophy."
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SLG · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:13 pm Post subject:

Funny after all the hype about his brother that he grabbed the glory first! He played a great game and they really deserved to win though. The level is pretty far off the top singles players though.