05-07-2025
Murray hailed as Scottish tennis trailblazer after Wimbledon defeat
By Will Jennings at Wimbledon
Jamie Murray was hailed as an icon of Scottish tennis after losing a boisterous battle of Britain encounter at Wimbledon.
The Scot, 39, combined with Emily Appleton in the mixed doubles event but suffered a straight sets defeat against Glasgow's Maia Lumsden and partner David Stevenson.
Advertisement
Murray, a joint British record-holding seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion, was knocked out of the men's doubles alongside Rajeev Ram on Thursday evening and unable to bounce back in the mixed as he and Appleton, 25, lost 6-3 6-4 on a packed-out Court 16.
Murray was crowned mixed doubles king of SW19 in both 2007 and 2017 and sits joint top with Virginia Wade as the most decorated doubles player in British tennis history.
Fellow Scot Lumsden, 27, has grown up idolising the former world No.1 and loved sharing a court with him in front of watching friends and family.
'We know Jamie really well and everything he has achieved,' said Lumsden, who lost alongside Harriet Dart in the women's doubles the previous day.
Advertisement
'He's obviously someone I've always looked up to a lot - he's had an amazing career, won a lot of Slams, so it's very cool to be on the same court as him and play against him.
'I respect him a lot for all he's done for Scottish and British tennis.'
The match was played in front of a raucous SW19 atmosphere on a sunbaked Friday afternoon in south-west London.
And Stevenson, 26, said: 'There was a group of lads I didn't know would be there I used to played football with, who were loud and had a few drinks.
'It's a relaxed environment on mixed side - to get the opportunity to continue playing at this place is what we want to do.'
Advertisement
Elsewhere, Henry Patten kept his men's doubles title defence with Harri Heliovaara alive with a 7-6(6) 6-3 victory over British pair Billy Harris and Marcus Willis.
But he was unable to progress in the mixed event alongside Olivia Nicholls, going down 6-3 6-4 against Asia Muhammad and Andres Molteni.
Patten, 29, captured Wimbledon hearts last summer with an unexpected men's doubles triumph alongside experienced Finn Heliovaara, 36.
And speaking after navigating his way to the third round, he said: 'We've definitely got a little bit of work to do – but we stuck together as a team and got over the line.
Advertisement
'They're good signs that we were able to come together under pressure at the tournament and not get too daunted by that.'
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website.
