British victory in Wimbledon doubles an omen for Murray

21:49, 07 Jul 2012

Jonny Marray showed Andy Murray how it is done by becoming a British Wimbledon champion on Centre Court today.

Marray became the first home player to win a men's doubles title for 76 years, triumphing alongside Danish partner Freddie Nielsen tonight.

The pair needed a wild card to get into the tournament but followed up their victory over defending champions Bob and Mike Bryan in the semi-finals by beating fifth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7/5) 6-7 (7/5) 6-3 in the final.

It was a remarkable victory for Sheffield's Marray and Nielsen, and is another good omen for Murray ahead of tomorrow's men's singles final against Roger Federer.

In 1936, Fred Perry won the singles and Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey won the doubles, and no British player had matched either achievement until today.

The result also had historical significance for Nielsen, who went one better than his grandfather Kurt, a two-time runner-up in the singles in the 1950s and the last Danish finalist at the All England Club.

Swede Lindstedt and Romanian Tecau were hoping to make some history of their own, having lost in the Wimbledon final for the last two years.

However they were out-fought in the deciding set by Marray and Nielsen who will take home £130,000 (€163,280) each.

The victorious pair only played together because Marray's ranking was not high enough to get into the tournament on his own right, while neither player has ever reached a final on the ATP World Tour.

Marray told the BBC: "In that fourth-set tie-break we were so close but we stayed calm and dug deep. We came out and got an early break and served it out."

Nielsen, the first Danish player to win a Grand Slam title, added: "This is by far the best thing I've experienced in tennis. The atmosphere was second to none."