There was a painful sense of deja vu for the Murray family as Jamie suffered a thumping straight-sets defeat in the men’s doubles final on Saturday evening – 24 hours after his brother Andy succumbed to Roger Federer on Centre Court.
Jamie, at 29 the elder Murray brother by a year, won the mixed doubles title with Jelena Jankovic in 2007 and was aiming to become the first Briton since Leslie Godfree in 1926 to claim both the Wimbledon men’s and mixed doubles titles. But it was not to be as Murray and his partner, the Australian John Peers, lost 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 to the No4 seeds, Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.
One of Godfree’s other claims to fame was that he played the first match on Centre Court when it opened in 1922. According to legend, his opening serve went into the net so he walked up to his ball and put it in his pocket as a souvenir. After this final Murray’s pockets will also be a little heavier: both he and Peers, the 13th seeds, walked away with £85,000 for being runners-up.
Yet after a positive opening they were second best for much of the match.
Tecau, in particular, played textbook doubles tennis. His serve was impenetrable. His volleys were as sharp as any blade. And his return never stopped asking questions. As Murray admitted: “I felt they got momentum early and that was the difference. If we could have snuck out a break early, things could have gone completely different. But they deserved to win.”
Most of Centre Court was taking a breather after the women’s final when the players arrived on court but the noise that greeted them was passionate and partisan. One wag summed up the mood moments before play started: “Come on Jamie, do it for Scotland!” Seconds later Murray hit a crosscourt winner against Rojer’s serve to go up 0-15 up and the volume went even higher.
And while Rojer and Tecau just about held their opening service game from 15-30, the tone was set for the opening 30 minutes of the match – with Murray and Peers pressing for a break and their opponents doggedly holding them at bay.
They had two breakpoint chances at 1-1 only for Tecau’s muscular serve to dig him out of a hole, and another one at 2-2 when Murray’s vicious dipping return swirled and stung Rojer’s shoelaces. Yet Peers was unable to take advantage, first hitting a return straight at Tecau then sending his lob wide.
Unfortunately while the Australian was serving well, his return game was as streaky as zigzag-cut bacon: he went games without disturbing the wall that Rojer and Tecau put up at the net before suddenly whipping up a couple of passing shots in quick succession before going arctic cold again.
Murray, though, was playing well and dropped only one point on serve and also saved a breakpoint at 4-5 down before the first set went to a tie-break. His brother Andy, who had been unsure whether he would watch for fear of jinxing him, watched on discreetly from three rows above the players’ box, quietly urging him on.
“I didn’t know he was coming until I heard him shouting encouragement,” admitted Jamie to laughs afterwards.
But Rojer and Tecau were gradually finding their feet on their return game and at 3-2 on the tie-break they drew a crucial mistake from Peers at the net. That mini-break proved enough, with Rojer and Tecau clinching the tie-break 7-5 after a final point that was a mini-classic.
Three times Peers and Murray dived to get smashes back before Tecau settled the argument with a thunderbolt bludgeoned down the middle.
The loss of the opening set meant that Murray and Peers had to regroup quickly but they soon went a break down in the second when Peers lost his serve.
At 4-3 on Rojer’s serve, there was a glimmer of hope at 15-30 but it was soon strangled as Rojer saved the game and, shortly afterwards, a flying Tecau smash put them two sets up.
Murray and Peers had twice won five-setters during this Wimbledon but never looked like knocking their opponents off their stride. And at 4-4 in the third Peers tossed in a double fault at 30-30, allowing Rojer and Tecau to pounce. A game later it was all over.
With this victory Tecau became the first Romanian player to win a Wimbledon men’s doubles title since Ilie Nastase in 1973 with Jimmy Connors. And that he finally triumphed after losing in his three previous finals here in 2010, 2011 and 2012 might give encouragement to Murray. Not that he was feeling it last night.
“I guess it’s a missed opportunity,” he sighed. “We may never have a chance to play a grand slam final again.”
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