Three-time Olympian Jamie Murray and Bethanie Mattek-Sands are still in the hunt for the mixed doubles crown at the Australian Open after reaching the semi-finals thanks to a convincing quarter-final victory.
The duo overcame Saisai Zheng of China and Joran Vliegen of Belgium in straight sets in their clash on Wednesday, winning 6-3, 6-4 to book their place in the last four.
A place in the semi-finals marks Murray’s best ever performance in the mixed doubles in Australia, eclipsing his quarter-final appearances in 2016 and 2019.
Last year saw the pair go out to home favourites Astra Sharma and JP Smith, and they could be in line for a rematch for a place in this year’s final, if the Australians can overcome the Polish pair of Iga Swiatek and Lukasz Kubot later today.
Elsewhere, there was also success for Joe Salisbury in the men’s doubles, as he and Rajeev Ram also made it to the last four with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Henri Kontinen and Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday.
This is only the 27-year-old’s second appearance at the Australian Open, and victory over Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan on Thursday would see him through to his first ever Grand Slam final.
Things weren’t so successful for the other British competitors in Melbourne, with Ken Skupski and Mexican partner Santiago Gonzalez going down 6-2, 6-4 to Australian duo Max Purcell and Luke Saville, while Jonny O’Mara and Marcelo Arevalo lost 6-3, 6-2 to fourth seeds Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek.
Sportsbeat 2020