Jamie Murray Looking Forward to Teaming Up with Brother Andy
Tennis - In his latest column for BBC Sport, Jamie Murray talks about teaming up with brother Andy Murray to play doubles in Washington and says he is really looking forward to the same.
"I couldn't play in Washington with my partner Neal Skupski because he is playing the World Team Tennis season in the US, which is a three-week commitment after Wimbledon. I was always looking for someone to play with in Washington so it's great that Andy is able to do it. I had asked Andy what his plans were for the summer while he was waiting to get some of the feedback from the physical testing he had been doing for his hip. Once he got the all-clear, he was able to make a plan. It's been a while since we last played together at the Davis Cup in 2016 and a lot of our tennis together around that time was in tournaments like the Davis Cup and the Olympics, so I can't remember the last time we played together in a normal tournament. We practised together on Wednesday and we will do more when we get out to Washington - we'll have a few days in which we can prepare and get ready for the tournament. During practice, we tend to go through a few strategies and positioning, mainly for Andy's benefit because he's not as used to playing doubles. Recently, he's obviously become more committed to it and he's a great player who reads the game so well, so I have to just let him be him and play the game that he knows best."
Jamie adds that the brothers complement each other and are able to communicate well on court since they have grown up together. "We complement each other well on the court. His return is amazing and that can give me a lot of action up at the net, and when I'm there I can also help him out on his serve. We know each other's games and I guess, because we are brothers, we are able to communicate that bit better and have more honesty than other partnerships. At the end of the day, partners can fall out but the difference with us being brothers is that we will always make up, so it makes it a lot easier. That's probably the reason the Bryan brothers, who have won 16 Grand Slam titles together, have been so successful over the years, because of that family bond and the natural communication they are able to have. It's all fun, I'm really looking forward to it and hopefully, we can have a good week there."
Murray adds that he will then be continuing to play the rest of the American hardcourt swing with his regular partner Neal Skupski - including events in Montreal, Cincinnati and then finally the US Open.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2GxWgC2
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