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Jamie Murray Venus Williams Wimbledon 2022

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‘We love you Venus!’ – Jubilant Wimbledon crowd carries Murray and Venus on Mexican wave to mixed victory

Joseph Rigal
Joseph Rigal
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Wimbledon fans were treated to a special moment on Court No. 1 as the much anticipated mixed doubles pairing of Jamie Murray and Venus Williams kicked off their campaign for the title. With 30 Major titles between them across five disciplines of the sport, it is fair to say that between them the elder Murray brother, 36, and elder Williams sister, 42, were the hottest ticket in the Wimbledon mixed doubles draw this year. However, that ticket was up in the air, with their match against Michael Venus and Alicja Rosolska listed as ‘to be arranged’ on the order of play for Friday. As such, it was anyone’s guess where they would end up playing. Luckily, as all three scheduled matches on Court No. 1 were complete by 7pm, that made the correct choice simple. So two-time Wimbledon mixed doubles champion Murray and 2006 mixed doubles finalist Williams strode onto court for the final play at SW19’s second show court. Williams had not played competitively for close to a year before Friday, last taking to the WTA tour at the Chicago Women’s Open in August 2021. But bar a handful of shaky ball tosses in her opening service game, the former world number one was sharp as a pin for the contest. Shouts of ‘we love you Venus!’ could be heard throughout the match as the crowd delighted in the legend’s comeback. Murray too received his fair share of ‘come one Jamie’ shouts. In a sequence of joy from the Court No. 1 crowd, an initially weak Mexican wave at a second set change of ends picked up steam to involve all but a few in the crowd, even leaving Rosolska giggling as the pairs waited for the wave to subside for Williams to serve. Later another Mexican wave picked up around around the ground, just as Venus was to serve at 5-6 to stay in the second set. At one point, the 42-year-old even ended up on the floor in a moment reminiscent of when Serena did the same while playing the mixed with Andy back in 2019.
After the pairs split the first two sets, the roof was closed for light, suspending play briefly. On resumption Murray and Williams held firm to eventually win 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3. Perhaps there is even some sibling rivalry to drive the duo on, with Andy and Serena reaching the same stage of the draw, the last 16, when they played in 2019. However, they required two match wins to get there as the draw was an expanded version with 48 entrants that year in contrast to the straight draw of 32 this summer. 🎾
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