Jamie Murray sailed through to the third round of the men’s doubles at Wimbledon with Brazilian partner Bruno Soares, drawing a close to the British action on the first Middle Sunday since 2004.
Doubles World No.1 pairing Murray and Soares, who won the Australian Open earlier this year, needed just 69 minutes to defeat Argentinean duo Federico Delbonis and Diego Schwartzman in straight sets, dominating the early stages of the match before going on to win 6-3 6-3.
The pair broke the South Americans’ serve once in each set, and Murray – who will play with brother Andy at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August - admits he is gunning for a second Wimbledon title after lifting the mixed doubles trophy in SW19 seven years ago.
“It’s bigger than the mixed doubles for sure,” said the 30-year-old. “It’s the tournament I want to win most this year and I’ll be trying my hardest to do it.
“We’re seeded three in the tournament, we won in Australia this year, so of course we’re one of the favourites.
“I’m not going to sit here and say we’re not, but all the guys who are still in are tough teams and on grass it’s not always easy to break serve and there are a lot of close matches.
“We’re excited to be in the second week and be fighting for the trophy.”
Earlier in the day, Heather Watson, who will join the Murray brothers in Rio, and Naomi Broady booked their place in the third round of the women’s doubles with a tight 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (12-10) victory over Russian Alexandra Panova and American Shelby Rogers.
They will face Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on Monday on Court 14.
Rio-bound Johanna Konta also progressed to the third round alongside partner Maria Sanchez where they will play Croatian Darija Jurak and Australian Anastasia Rodinova, while Laura Robson saw her Wimbledon campaign ended as she and fellow Brit Dom Inglot lost in straight sets.
Monday’s action at the All England Club will also see Andy Murray face Nick Kyrgios on Centre Court.
Sportsbeat 2016