Murray Watched His Brother Win US Open On TV And Went To Bed

Written by: Staff on 5th October 2012

Tennis Japan Open Championships tournament in Tokyo

Murray Watched His Brother Win US Open On TV And Went To Bed

epa03422088 Andy Murray of Britain returns the ball to Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland during their quarter final match of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships tournament in Tokyo, Japan, 05 October 2012. Murray won 6-2, 3-6 and 6-2. EPA/TOMOYUKI KAYA |

Jamie Murray, back alongside his US Open winning brother Andy to defend their Rakuten Open title in Tokyo this week, revealed he watched Britain’s biggest tennis triumph in 76 years quietly in his Luxembourg hotel and celebrated by simply switching off his bedroom light.

The elder Murray sibling was battling towards a doubles final on the second tier Challenger circuit in the small Luxembourgian town of Petange . One brother pocketed $1.8 million for his labors, the other earned $1,400 for a week’s work.

“I watched the final for a bit with my doubles partner Andre Sa and a coach called Peter something,” said Jamie whose own US Open had ended in the first round of the Men’s Doubles almost a fortnight earlier. “It was great to see and I was so happy for Andy. He did so well, especially when Djokovic came back from two sets down but I wasn’t shouting at the television set or jumping up and down when he won.

“It was quite late in Luxembourg , about 3am in the morning, and we had a match the next day so there were no celebrations. And I didn’t actually talk to him for quite a while afterwards because he was so busy with all the media requirements and flying back while I had the Challenger to play.

“Unfortunately I couldn’t even get back to Dunblane that weekend for the great homecoming because I was moving onto another tournament in Metz which was just down the road from Luxembourg . Sure, I would have liked to have been there but it didn’t work out.”

While Andy maintains he has his sights set firmly on becoming world singles no.1 by the end of the year, dislodging Roger Federer and leap-frogging Djokovic along the way, Jamie is more concerned about protecting his current doubles ranking of 52, that only makes him the sixth best British player when it comes to the two a side game.

“It’s good that I get to play a few tournaments a year with Andy because it means I can get the opportunity to score some good ranking points,” said Jamie who has lined up alongside 14 different partners in the last 12 months. “Obviously Andy’s much more focused on playing singles and only wants to play doubles for some match practice but it’s good to have somebody of that quality beside you now and again.

“Obviously I would like to have a settled partner but things haven’t worked out as I would have hoped in one way or another. It’s a shame and gets a bit frustrating but we’ll see how things go next year.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire