Marray/Nielsen completes dream run after clicking Men’s Doubles title in Wimbledon – Tennis Special
Wild card entrants, Britain’s Jonathan Marray and Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen, stunned the fifth seeded Swedish-Romanian pair, Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau, in a five-set nail-biter at the Wimbledon Championships 2012 on Saturday. They formulated a 4-6,
6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3 victory against their seeded opponents to conquer the Men’s Doubles title at this third of the four Grand Slam events held in London, England.
First time paired-up, Marray and Nielsen made history together after becoming the first wildcard tandem to conquer the Men’s Doubles title at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon. Marray also became the first Brit to capture the doubles
title since the British junction of Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey won in 1936. The Danish tennis star, Nielson, on the other hand became the first player of his nation to lift a Grand Slam title in both singles or doubles event.
“Every kind of sportsperson has injuries I'm sure at a time in their career. When you're not really doing so well, those moments you kind of second guess yourself whether you want to carry on or not,” said the jubilant Marray. “But I felt like I had a bit
of unfinished business and things like that, so I'm more than happy to have made the decision to carry on.”
“It means more because it's Wimbledon. Maybe because of my family history, I have a different relationship with Wimbledon. That's possible,” the Dane commented in a post-match interview.
Lindstedt and Tecau, who were coming off clicking the UNICEF Open in Netherlands, made a strong start at this major grass court tournament. They jolted down a better first serve share and with a single break of serve, the Swedish-Romanian pair clinched the
opener with a 6-4 score line.
The British-Danish collaboration found their rhythm in the following set and swiftly swiped their entire serves after blocking the lone breakpoint they came across. They capitalised on one out of four break chances and registered a 6-4 success.
Marray and Nielsen carried their momentum in the third set and despite formulating a poor first serve share, they carved out the victory with a 7-6(5) score line. The pair held their entire serves with poise and dominated in the tie-breaker to inch towards
the glory.
The Swedish-Romanian junction lifted their game in the fourth set and got back in contention. They fired 11 winners and smashed nine aces, subsequently dragging the set to the tie-breaker. Lindstedt and Tecau prevailed in it and clicked the equaliser with
a 7-6(5) win in 51 minutes.
The match was poised on a knife-edge but the surprise finalists were the one who re-gained their strength. Marray and Nielsen plucked their entire serves without facing any real challenge and cashed in the lone break chance to pocket the decider with a 6-3
victory.
Marray and Nielsen displayed spectacular skills throughout the tournament. They edged out ninth seeded Spaniards, Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, in the opening round. The British-Danish formation then upset eighth seeded Pakistani-Dutch pair, Aisam-Ul-Haq
Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer, in a five-set thriller before shocking the defending champions and the second seeds, Bob and Mike Bryan, in the semi-finals to set up this epic clash.
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