THE extra screenings of Big Brother at Wimbledon 2014 are over.
Jamie Murray's attempt to extend the family presence into a final weekend failed narrowly last night as he and his partner Casey Dellacqua of Australia came up just short in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles.
Max Mirnyi and Hao-Ching Chan won a tight match 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. The atmosphere on court 12 was far from that created on Centre Court on Thursday when Murray and Dellacqua powered through to the last eight and the Scot felt he had started the match "flat".
"It was a close match," said the 28-year-old. "We did well to come back into it because it was a bit flat at the start. I did not play a very good service game at the start of the third set and then we were unlucky not to break serve because we lost four or five points that we could have won. It was different from yesterday on Centre Court because when we started today's match it was pretty empty so it was a bit weird."
The plans for the pair are different. Murray will take a few days off where he will relax, play golf and watch the Wolrd Cup. Although he lives nearby, he will not visit the championships.
"I probably won't watch the men's final this year because I cannot get massively excited about it. When Andy's out my interest goes down quite a lot," he said.
Murray, a winner of the mixed doubles at SW19 in 2007 with Jelena Jankovic, said of his Wimbledon 2014 experience: "Its been good. I am quite tired now and looking forward to the tournaments in Europe before going to the States." He and his doubles partner, John Peers, will play in Hamburg and Gstaad before heading for the US stretch.
Dellacqua, the 29-year-old who has an impressive doubles pedigree, will now concentrate on her singles career. "I have a run of matches in America, all the lead-ups to the US Open," she said. "I have been in Europe for 10 weeks now so I am pretty much at the end of my tether. I'll go back to Australia and freshen up and then head for the States."
Dellacqua and her partner Amanda have an 11-month-old son Blake Benjamin and they travel on tour together. "It's chaos, pretty much. But it's much better having them with me. It's been great.
"At the end of the day I can switch off, I don't worry about tennis, I worry about getting him to bed. It has been nothing but positive for my game because I don't stress about the tennis," she said.
Murray and Dellacqua may play together in the US Open. The Australian is keen but must see how the tournament plays out in terms of her commitments to singles and doubles. Both, though, have enjoyed Wimbledon with Dellacqua playing two matches on Centre Court, one in the mixed doubles and another in the singles.
"I feel lucky to have had these opportunities to play the Centre Court because it is where I dreamed of playing when I was a young girl," said Dellacqua. "Even Court One is amazing, two of the greatest courts in world tennis. Wimbledon has been very memorable for me."
As it has been for the Murrays.
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