JAMIE Murray's bid to land his maiden men's doubles title at Wimbledon will be subjected to a sudden death shoot-out on Court No 17 today.
The Scot, currently ranked the world's pre-eminent doubles player, and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares, racked up a two sets to love lead against Mate Pavic of Croatia and Michael Venus of New Zealand but will resume at 13-13 in the decider after bad light intervened at Wimbledon last night.
There was a lengthy hold-up between the fourth and fifth sets, Soares asking for the referee to be called after earning the wrath of the umpire for smashing his racket off the back of the court, but the No 3 seeds spurned two match points before the decision was taken to take the teams off court at 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 4-6, 13-13.
Read more: Murray and Federer on course for final clash as major rivals quit
It is one of the day's bizarre co-incidences that a fellow British doubles player called Jonny Marray should come through a similarly lengthy tie 14-12 in the fifth.
One Scottish success story unfolding at SW19 yesterday was Ewan Moore, the 18-year-old from Ayrshire, who now practises out in Gdansk, Poland. The teenager, who followed his coach Marcel du Coudray to Eastern Europe when he moved to the country of his wife's birth after a stint at the Merchiston Academy programme in Edinburgh, was an impressive winner in the boys event against Ergi Kirkin of Turkey by a 6-2, 6-3 scoreline on Court No 4. He now faces Ulises Blanch, of the USA, who is the No 2 seed.
"It was a very good win for me," said Moore. "I felt the pressure at different points of the match but luckily I was here last year so I think I handled it a lot better this year. I have played all over the place and played the top juniors my age. I have had some very good wins and I am not scared of anyone in the draw."
Moore wasn't just a success story for Scotland. His unique coaching circumstances also mean he is a clear winner when it comes to the free movement of labour in the European Union, even if the next phase of his career may be on a US scholarship. He said Du Coudray gives him regular updates on the ramifications of the recent Brexit referendum.
Maia Lumsden, his fellow 18-year-old, took the first set of her first round match against Paula Arias Manjon of Spain but eventually went down 7-6 (3), 3-6, 3-6, while Colin Fleming and Jocelyn Rae went down 1-6, 6-1, 3-6 to Rae's ladies doubles partner Anna Smith and Neal Skupski.
The Great Britain and Serbian Davis Cup teams will be named by captain Leon Smith today and it isn't just Novak Djokovic who will be posted missing from the Serbian team. Viktor Troicki confirmed to the Herald last night that he was pulling out of the event to concentrate on the US hard court swing, leaving the Serbian team reliant on Janko Tipsarevic and Dusan Lajovic for their singles rubbers.
"Because it is Olympic year, it is a lot tougher to play this year," Troicki said. "I am playing right up to Davis Cup and the next day a tournament is starting in Washington, a 500 series, then after that there is the Masters Series in Toronto. I want to be ready for that, so I have decided with the Davis Cup captain that for me at the moment it is much more important for me to be ready for that."
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