Marray/Nielsen upset the Bryan Brothers to reach Doubles final – Wimbledon Championships 2012
Doubles draw of the Wimbledon Championships witnessed an absolute shocker when the hot favourite second seeded American duo of the Bryan Brothers crashed out of the semi-final round on Friday. The wildcard pair of Jonathan Marray from England and Frederik Nielsen of Denmark pulled out the stunner by dumping the defending champions in a four-set thriller, 6-4, 7-6(9), 6-7(4), 7-6(5).
The British-Dane tandem took two hours and 34 minutes to register one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, earning a place in the title match of the Grand Slam event in London, England. The local crowd at the All England Tennis and Croquet Club saw a gruelling battle between the two teams from the first till the last minute of play. Three of the four sets were taken into the tie-breaker rounds but the resilience and sheer determination of Marray and Nielsen took them through the intense pressure situations in the contest.
Bob and Mike Bryan were bidding for yet another Grand Slam title at Wimbledon this season and have been absolutely superb in the encounters en route to the semis. The all-round onslaught from Marray and Nielsen took the Bryans by surprise but they tried their best will the last minute of the match. The second seeded duo lost the opening two sets early to fall back but claimed the following set to remain alive in the competition. However, a thumping reply from the British-Dane combination in the fourth set tie-break left them stranded in the end.
“They've won all these tournaments many times over. To actually beat them in our first semi-final at Wimbledon is a pretty big thing,” said Marray. “We're more than happy with it, how we played today. I'm just delighted to get a chance to play on Centre Court and share it with Freddy. We've been friends for a long time. To do this together, it's been great.”
“I was raised in a tennis fanatic house, especially with my granddad, and Wimbledon was always the thing. It was Wimbledon and everything else,” Nielsen said.
Marray and Nielsen will take on the fifth seeded pair of Robert Lindstedt from Sweden and Horia Tecau from Romania in the title match to be played on Saturday afternoon. The Swede-Romanian duo was successful against the 10th seeded team of Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner, defeating them in four sets, 6-4, 6-7(10), 6-4, 6-3, to book a clash with Marray and Nielsen in the final of the Wimbledon Men’s Doubles.
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