Marray sets sights on Davis Cup after securing historic win

Jonny Marray has hopes of breaking into Great Britain’s Davis Cup team after one of the most unlikely Wimbledon victories of all time.

The 31-year-old Sheffield player and Danish partner Freddie Nielsen were wild-card entries into the men’s doubles but, having beaten the phenomenal Bryan brothers in the semi-finals, on Saturday they saw off fifth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau in the final.

It was another five-setter, Marray and Nielsen’s fourth of the tournament, and again it was the Anglo-Danish duo who prevailed in the decider to win 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7/5) 6-7 (5/7) 6-3.

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Marray is likely to be the highest-ranked British doubles player when the list is updated next week, but he knows he faces a challenge to dislodge the established doubles partnership of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins from the Davis Cup team.

The Liverpool-born player said: “Obviously I’d like to be part of the team. But they’ve got an established team with Ross and Colin at the moment.

“They’ve been doing great and have a great record. It would be hard to shift them out of the team. But it would be a great honour for me to represent Great Britain in Davis Cup.

“I was on the team in 2004, a few years back now. But I never actually got to play. It would be something I’d definitely be interested in.”

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Marray and Nielsen, who each received £130,000 for their success, have never even reached the final at an ATP World Tour event but they are now almost certain to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in London in November.

Marray said: “Every round I won I was kind of keeping tabs on where my ranking would be because it obviously gets me in better tournaments throughout the year. With regard to the O2 finals, obviously it’s something I’ve always dreamed about playing, especially since it’s in London. It would be a massive bonus if we could, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Marray, who told the BBC he received a congratulatory text message from Andy Murray, had planned to play with Canada’s Adil Shamasdin but the pair’s combined ranking was not high enough to get them into the tournament.

He had the back-up of a wild card and he asked Nielsen to partner him after the pair had reached the final and lost at the Nottingham Challenger on grass last month.

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“I know Freddie well, know his game,” said Marray. “After having a good week in Nottingham a couple weeks ago, I really thought we could do well here. Obviously I didn’t think we could ever win it but, as the week went on, we kept gaining confidence and coming through some tight matches.

“Your expectations kind of grow a little bit and your confidence grows, and obviously the end result is we got the win.”

Marray’s career until the last fortnight had been extremely low key, scraping a living on the Futures and Challenger tours and battling nagging injuries, and he admitted there were moments when he doubted whether he should carry on.

He said: “Every kind of sportsperson has injuries, I’m sure, at times in their career. When you’re not really doing so well, in those moments you second-guess yourself whether you want to carry on or not.

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“But I felt like I had a bit of unfinished business and things like that, so I’m more than happy to have made the decision to carry on. I’m very proud to have got my name on that trophy and, whatever happens in my career from here on in, I will always be able to say I was a Wimbledon champion.”

While Marray was the first British winner of the men’s doubles title since 1936, Nielsen also had history on his shoulders at the All England Club.

The 28-year-old became the first Dane to win a grand slam title and the first Wimbledon finalist from his country since his grandfather Kurt Nielsen, who died last year, was twice a singles finalist in the 1950s.

Nielsen said: “It means more because it’s Wimbledon. Maybe because of my family history I have a different relationship with Wimbledon. But I don’t think the fact that my granddad used to do well is going to make it even more special. I’m pretty sure that the fact that it’s just Wimbledon is enough for me.”

Ten facts about Jonny Marray...

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Born in Liverpool but he grew up and has spent most of his life in Sheffield, starting to play tennis aged 10.

His brother David is a tennis coach.

He is a fan of Liverpool FC.

He attended St Wilfrid’s primary school in Sheffield and All Saints secondary – one of the Steel City’s most famous schools.

His father works in the banking industry and his mother is a nurse at a local doctor’s surgery.

He turned professional in 2002, initially making an impact as a singles player when he got to the third round of Queen’s in 2004.

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His favourite band is Sheffield group Reverend and the Makers.

He is a member of Hallamshire Tennis Club.

He is best friends with Nick Matthew, England’s leading squash player.

He spent the £75 voucher he received for coming through the semi-final on a tea set in the Wimbledon shop.