Sheffield star Marray reaches doubles final

Marray and partner Freddie Nielsen had only played together in three tournaments before Wimbledon, but yesterday they defied the odds to pull off a huge upset against 11-time grand slam champions Bob and Mike Bryan.

The 6-4 7-6 (11/9) 6-7 (7/4) 7-6 (7/5) victory enhanced the feelgood factor around British tennis after Andy Murray progressed to the men’s singles final.

Marray, who is based in Sheffield, will take to Centre Court for the first time today since he visited the most famous arena in tennis to watch Tim Henman lose to Goran Ivanisevic in the semi-finals 11 years ago.

Now after going one better than the former British No 1, 31-year-old Marray wants to fulfil his childhood dream of lifting a trophy at Wimbledon.

Marray said: “Winning a trophy at Wimbledon is why I play tennis. That’s what I dreamed of when I was growing up so for it to come true would be the pinnacle of my career.

“I played Court One last year, but I haven’t played on the big one. I’ve only been there as a punter. I saw Tim Henman play Goran in the semis on Centre.

“That was not the result we wanted in the end, but it was a great atmosphere there.”

Marray is the first British person to reach the final of the men’s doubles since Bobby Wilson and Mike Davies did so in 1960 and the last time a Briton won the event was 76 years ago.

Marray and Nielsen’s progression to the final – where they face fifth seeds Robert Lindstedt, of Sweden, and Romania’s Horia Tecau – rarely seemed in doubt yesterday despite their underdog status.

The Anglo-Danish duo broke in the 10th game and then edged two tie-breaks to cause euphoric scenes among the few hundred spectators who had shunned Murray to watch Marray on Court 12.

“It’s a big scalp, definitely,” Marray said. “They’ve won all these tournaments many times over so to actually beat them in our first semi-final at Wimbledon is a pretty big thing.”

Marray turned professional 12 years ago but a series of injuries forced him to turn to the doubles game, where he has enjoyed very little success.

The gulf in status between the two pairs is summed up by the fact that the Bryans have won over £11.5m throughout their careers while Marray has amassed just £275,000 playing Challenger tournaments in some unsavoury parts of the world.

“It can be a hard slog. We’ve played a lot of tournaments together over the years in some not very nice places,” Marray said. “But we do it to play tournaments like this. It’s what we’ve dreamed of so it’s all worthwhile in the end.”

Marray has won many admirers, most notably Anne Keothavong.

The British No 1 has professed her love for Marray on Twitter over the last fortnight and last night asked the 31-year-old out for dinner next week.

“Let’s see (after today),” Marray commented.