JAMIE Murray will aim to strike a blow for family pride and British tennis in the men's doubles final at Queen's Club today.
Murray became Britain's first men's doubles finalist at the Aegon Championships since Neil Broad in 1993, after the Scot and Australian partner John Peers brushed past French duo Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Murray and Peers won yesterday's last-four clash 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), to line up against Austrian Alexander Peya and Brazilian Bruno Soares in the final.
Murray's brother Andy, Wimbledon champion and Queen's men's singles title-holder was dumped out of the Kensington competition by Radek Stepanek in the third round.
Targeting Britain's first men's doubles victory at Queen's since Jeremy Bates in 1990, Murray admitted he will not fret over his brother's absence from the singles final. "It's nice for me to get to the final - I'm not worried about Andy too much," joked the 28-year-old. "He's had a lot more success in his career than me, so I won't be losing sleep over that.
"It's great to be in the final, I don't know when a British guy was last in the final for doubles. We're looking forward to it and we'd love to win, but there's a long way to go yet.
"If I was playing a semi-final in Bucharest or wherever I wouldn't perhaps be so excited, but there was a lot on this. I really, really wanted to win this match."
Today's final stops Jamie attending the Rally for Bally event in Birmingham in memory of tennis star Elena Baltacha who died from liver cancer last month.
The rally also takes place at Eastbourne and Queen's, where Andy will join Martina Hingis, Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, Victoria Azarenka, Heather Watson and Laura Robson to raise money for Baltacha's academy and the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
After that the Scot will rejoin new coach Amelie Mauresmo to prepare to defend his title at Wimbledon, starting a week tomorrow.
He will spend most of the week getting used to the courts at Wimbledon, where he and Mauresmo are members of an exclusive club.
World No 13 Grigor Dimitrov, the Bulgarian tipped for the top after he won junior Wimbledon in 2008, would love to be another member.
He looked hugely impressive at Queen's yesterday as he upset Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-4 to reach his first grass-court final.
"I think I'm still at the beginning of a good path," he said. "I just want to follow it at the moment and don't want to put myself on the side or just observe. I want to be in it."
Dimitrov's opponent in the final will be Feliciano Lopez of Spain, who took out Murray's conqueror Stepanek 7-6, 6-4.
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