“I DON'T know - it would probably depend who our partners were.” That was Jamie Murray’s guarded response at Wimbledon this summer when quizzed about who he felt would prevail were he or his little brother Andy to meet on a theoretical doubles court any time soon. That being the case, today's second round encounter between Leander Paes and John Peers in the Rogers Cup in Montreal promises to be quite something. All the hypothesising will come to an end with the first-ever meeting between the two Murray siblings in any Tour-level match.
Tennis has known many sibling rivalries in its history – the most high-profile being the sister act between Serena and Venus Williams, the most recent episode of which was served up at Wimbledon this year – but there is little if any relevant form guide for this all-Scottish showdown between two players who only last month combined to win a thrilling Davis Cup rubber for Great Britain against French duo Nicolas Mahut and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
While the pair actually played a set of singles at an exhibition event called Turbo Tennis at the Albert Hall back in 2007 – Andy won comfortably on a jazzed-up court which didn’t even have tramlines – doubles promises to be a different matter. While it has always been something of an hors d’oeuvres for Andy, little more than a chance to guarantee himself more court time in the lead-up to major events such as this month’s US Open, it is Jamie’s daily bread, a discipline in which he has racked up more than a million dollars in prize money. The 29-year-old has an instinctive feel for the geometry of the doubles court and is currently at the peak of his powers. He and Australian partner John Peers sit fifth in the race for the ATP World Tour finals in London, having followed up their runners-up effort at Wimbledon by winning the German Open. As seventh seeds, they received a bye into the second round.
The younger Murray brother’s designs on this match are less tangible – perhaps coach Jonas Bjorkman and one-time doubles expert Jonas Bjorkman also feels some more volley practice wouldn’t go awry - but it rarely takes long to get his competitive juices flowing. While his arrangement with Paes is a marriage of convenience, the vastly experienced Indian player has 16 Grand Slam titles under his belt, and the pairing were far too good for two more excellent singles players Kevin Anderson and Jeremy Chardy in the first round. “I’ve never played my brother since we became professionals,” said Andy. “We obviously played a lot against each other as juniors in local competitions and around Britain. It will be nice in some ways, but also it is not easy. Serena and Venus [Williams] have obviously done that playing for Grand Slams. I can’t imagine how difficult that is. Playing in the second round of the doubles is a little bit more relaxed than those occasions, but it still won’t be easy.”
Ultimately, it may go down as a curio, a footnote in their respective stellar careers, but it would be nice to think both Murray brothers would get something out of this assignment in Montreal as they work towards their main goals for the season. When it comes to competitive match practice, trying to be better than your brother is hard to beat.
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