Jamie Murray is hoping that he and his brother Andy have what it takes to go all the way in Rio and capture Olympic Gold in the men’s doubles. The British pair have had struggles at the world’s greatest sporting event in the past, reaching the second round in Beijing 2008 and only the first round in their home games at London 2012.
Hoping to transfer Davis Cup success to the courts in Rio
Despite the brothers feeling that they have somewhat underachieved at the games so far as a pair, Jamie believes that their recent success and more frequent playing time in the Davis Cup will leader to bigger achievements in Rio. Jamie played an important part in Great Britain’s triumph in the sports team competition last year, winning the doubles rubber with Andy against France, Australia and Belgium in the final. The pair will be seeded second for the event, with the French pair Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut the top seeds for the competition.
The pairs recent lack of match practice together "won't be an issue"
“We will have a good shot at a medal,” the world’s fifth-ranked doubles player said when speaking to the Daily Mail on Sunday. “We are both playing some of the best tennis of our careers. We know each other so well; we have played so many matches together that not playing for a while with each other won't be an issue for us.”
The 30-year-old has revealed that he and Andy plan to practice together a couple of times in the build up to the games, “we will be as best prepared as we possibly can be.” Jamie added that it would be a positive for the world number two in singles as Jamie is under the impression that most singles players will not go through the same process to practice.
The Olympic Tennis event gets underway on Saturday 6th August, with the men’s doubles final being played on the 12th of August.