Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka miss out in Wimbledon final but plot future mixed doubles as 'Muzzarenka'
Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka may have lost the final of the Wimbledon mixed doubles, but the good news is that the pair are hopeful of joining together again and have not ruled out a reunion at the US Open.
After they were beaten in straight sets 7-6, 6-3 by Austria’s Alexander Peya and American Nicole Melichar, who were superior on the serve and at the net, both Murray and Azarenka said they were enthusiastic about a possible reunion.
Despite the fact they were playing together for the first time at the All England Club, Murray’s doubles experience and Azarenka’s class as a former world No 1 and two-time grand slam singles champion, looked to be a winning formula.
If they had won on Centre Court yesterday Murray would have become the first man in 32 years to win two consecutive Wimbledon mixed doubles titles, after his triumph with Martina Hingis last year. He also would have become the first man to win at SW19 with three different partners, as he landed his first grand slam title at Wimbledon in 2007 with Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic.
Wimbledon 2018 in pictures
Murray said of at the prospect of reconnecting with the Belarusian: “I would definitely like to play with Victoria again. For me, it was awesome, I had a great time. She is a great player.” Azarenka was just as eager, but considering the newness of their partnership, he explained that they had not discussed her or Murray’s diaries leading up to the US Open, which starts on Aug 27.
“I would love to play with Jamie again, it has been so much fun over the past two weeks, but I don’t even know Jamie’s schedule after this tournament,” said Azarenka.
Murray will continue to play men’s doubles with long-term partner the Brazilian, Bruno Soares, with whom he won the 2016 Australian and US Open, and he shrugged off any possibility of playing doubles with brother Andy as he tries to get match fit again.
As mixed doubles is something of a tennis anomaly, only played at grand slam tournaments, the Scot was mindful of Azarenka improving her form in the singles as she was knocked out in the second round of Wimbledon by Karolina Pliskova.
He said: “We might play together again, but I hope for Victoria that she gets his her form back in singles and gets a good run of clear fitness and can get back to playing in the biggest tournaments because that is what she is used to doing.
“She has obviously had difficult moments over the past few years with lots of different things. I hope she has a good run in the summer.”
It was not just the birth of her son Leo, whose name she has embroidered on her tennis shoes, that has caused Azarenka to miss out on top-level tennis, including last year’s Wimbledon, but also a difficult custody battle after she split with her former partner, Billy McKeague.
Ball boy and ball girls
As the doubles pair progressed through the Championship, with their swashbuckling brand of play, where they had to come back from being a set down in the first round and quarter-finals, the British public grew fond them. Murray’s mother, Judy, dubbed them “Muzzarenka” and the portmanteau trended on social media.
They also attracted celebrity fans, the Royal Box was deserted at the start of the mixed doubles match after the men’s final, but Oscar award-winning actor Eddie Redmayne and his wife Hannah Bagshawe watched intently from the start. They were joined by Hugh Grant and Benedict Cumberbatch as Centre Court gradually began to fill up.
Despite all the good will, Peya and Melichar were superior. The American, who had lost out in the women’s doubles finals on Saturday, was out to prove herself, with a serve that reached a top speed of 110mph.
Murray and Azarenka seemed jaded by the time the first set tie-break came around, and they capitulated in that. In the second set, the momentum was with Peya and Melichar and in winning they both sealed their first Wimbledon and grand slam title.
