THE MURRAY BROTHERS MAKE THE 2016 AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS A FAMILY AFFAIR, OLDER BROTHER ALWAYS TELL YOUNGER BROTHERS TO GO TO BED, JAMIE MURRAY WINS THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN DOUBLES TITLE AND ANDY IS THERE TO SEE IT–SORT OF

Written by: Staff on 30th January 2016

THE MURRAY BROTHERS MAKE THE 2016 AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS A FAMILY AFFAIR, OLDER BROTHER ALWAYS TELL YOUNGER BROTHERS TO GO TO BED, JAMIE MURRAY WINS THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN DOUBLES TITLE AND ANDY IS THERE TO SEE IT--SORT OF

epa05135459 Jamie Murray of Britain (right ) and Bruno Soares of Brazil (facing away) celebrates their win over Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic and Daniel Nestor of Canada (not pictured) during their final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 30 January 2016. EPA/TRACEY NEARMY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

By Ricky Dimon

Andy Murray was in Rod Laver Arena past 1:00 a.m. on the eve of his Australian Open final, as his brother’s doubles final lasted well into the night on Saturday. As Murray indicated following his semifinal win over Milos Raonic, he would not be–and wasn’t–in the stands for Jamie’s match due to nerves. But after Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares outlasted Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, the second-ranked Scot made an appearance for the trophy ceremony.

“Andy, I don’t why you’re here,” Jamie said during his speech–at which point it was 1:15 in the morning. “You should be in bed.”

Jamie Murray of Britain (Top) and Bruno Soares of Brazil play against Daniel Nestor of Canada and Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic during their final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 30 January 2016. EPA/LYNN BO BO

That is probably where Andy was tempted to go after his brother and Soares dropped the opening set 6-2. But after surrendering serve twice in the opener, the British-Brazilian duo did not get broken again until serving for the title at 5-4 in the third. Set two was not as competitive as the 6-4 score suggested, with Murray and Soares facing no break points while earning seven chances of their own. One conversion was enough to make the difference.

Murray cracked slightly in the 10th game of the third set with the trophy on his racket. A double-fault followed by a brilliant match-point save by Nestor ultimately led to a break. But Murray and Soares broke right back at 5-5 and Soares served out the match at love one game later.

It was Jamie’s first Grand Slam title in men’s doubles. He had previously lost finals at the last two majors–Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2015.

“For me, the Grand Slam men’s doubles, that is going to be the pinnacle of my career other than Davis Cup, obviously,” Jamie explained. “This is what I’m working towards every day, every time I step on the court. It’s an amazing feeling to have realized that with Bruno. We played a great tournament. Did a lot of great things on the court together. Yeah, pretty speechless.

“It was funny to see Andy there at the end. He’d obviously been watching the match in the locker room. I didn’t know that. I thought he left to go back to the hotel obviously. Maybe he came back when he thought we had a chance.”

Andy Murray (C) the brother of Jamie Murray of Britain celebrates as his brother and Bruno Soares of Brazil winning their double final match against Daniel Nestor of Canada and Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 30 January 2016. EPA/MADE NAGI

“He left after the first set; came back in the third,” Soares joked.

“If you ask me, ‘Are you guys going to win your first slam right away,” I would be a bit surprised with that,” the Brazilian added, referencing the fact that he and Murray just started playing together this season. “I told Jamie it was my best pre-season for the last five or six years. I was feeling really good. I was moving really well. With all the matches we got before here, I thought that we were playing some good tennis and we really had a shot here.”