Marray meets up with Federer on equal terms at the Champions’ Ball

For many a year, Jonny Marray was affectionately known to the members of Hallamshire Tennis and Squash Club as Dave’s brother.

Dave, 34, was the first Marray sibling to join the Sheffield club over a decade ago, is the current head coach and is there so often he has almost become part of the furniture.

Jonny, 31, was the Marray brother who passed through on his way to and from second-tier international tournaments, partaking in isolated practice sessions and keeping fit in the gymnasium.

Jonny could even sit in the lounge enjoying a lunch without being troubled, as his brother sorted everything from junior tournaments to coaching classes.

No longer.

For now it is Dave who will for ever be known as Jonny’s brother, the elder sibling of the first British man to win the Wimbledon men’s doubles title for more than three quarters of a century.

In winning the doubles title with Denmark’s Freddie Nielsen, Jonny Marray penned his own sporting fable.

His life will never be the same again.

His amazing run to a showpiece final on the hallowed Centre Court encapsulated why so many people hold sport so dearly to their hearts.

It explained why so many sportsmen and women plough a lone professional furrow in the lower echelons of their chosen profession, continuing to labour day-in, day-out for the slim chance that one day they might be able to bask in the spotlight with which Marray is now coming to terms.

That same lounge in which Marray used to relax in peace was yesterday full of people, all there to see him.

From ageing members who never imagined they would see the day a British Wimbledon champion walked through their door to budding tennis players who now have a hero to look up to.

It was all a little surreal for Marray, who happily went from interview to interview, autograph to autograph with a grin that suggested he could not quite believe it was happening.

“It was a bit weird for me,” he said, when he could finally find the words. “I just generally come down here and get on with what I normally do.

“So it’s great for me to come and hear so many people say so many nice things about me, about the match and the two weeks at Wimbledon.

“I’m not really used to it, but it’s a nice feeling.”

Hallamshire’s 2,000 members were invited to come and greet their returning champion yesterday and few passed up the chance.

There was a similar buzz in the clubhouse last Saturday night when Marray and Nielsen – wild card entries into the tournament and underdogs the whole way through – defeated the fifth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau in the final.

Two hundred people watched on the two plasma screens as Marray’s match went into the late evening, forcing a delayed start to a retirement bash that had been booked for the bar area months ago.

No one was concerned.

Wimbledon finals are a rarity for Britons, despite the two we lived through this weekend.

While Andy Murray headed for the exit on Sunday night, Roger Federer was joined at the Champions’ Ball by Marray and his brother, who was one of 20 Hallamshire members who bought day passes and got themselves into the coaches’ box to cheer on Jonny last Saturday night.

“The champions’ dinner was great, especially to have earned the right to be there,” said Marray. “To get to stand up when your name’s called, to get to meet Roger Federer. It was good to have Dave there with me. It was a really special occasion.”

On overtaking his brother as the pre-eminent Marray at Hallamshire, Jonny was self-effacing.

“Dave’s a fixture. He’s a lively character, everyone knows him around here,” he said.

“He’s a social person. I doubt they’ll start referring to him as Jonny’s brother. He’s well respected for all his hard work.”

So what next for the 31-year-old who played himself into history books?

Tournaments in Los Angeles and Washington await before the US Open doubles at the end of August, an event Marray used to attend for the experience, but one he will now arrive at with Nielsen harbouring genuine hopes of another sporting upset.

A return to the Davis Cup team, the Australian and French Opens and a defence of his title at the All England Club next year are all on the horizon. With his new-found fame he may also finally attract one of the big sports manufacturers to sponsor him.

Marray is £130,000 richer because of his victory. It is peanuts compared to the £1.1m Federer waltzed off with, but for Marray it is five times more than he has earned per year, on average, for the past decade.

Not bad for a bit-part player who had to quit playing singles because of twin surgery on his shoulder in 2007, and who also questioned his appetite for doubles at the start of the year.

“I was 100th in the world, struggling to make a decent living,” recalled Marray. “But I love tennis, I love training and competing, so I thought while I’m still able to support myself I will do it.”

Thank heavens he did.