Marry, Nielsen partner for historic win
July 7, 2012
GREENVILLE, SC — In one of the most improbable title runs ever for a doubles team, Britain’s Jonathan Marray and Danish partner Frederick Nielsen delighted an electric, partisan Wimbledon Centre Court crowd on Saturday evening with a five set win to take the doubles crown. The team, given a Wild Card to start the tournament, took out the 5 seeds, Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau (Wimbledon finalists the past three years) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3 in the final.
The long list of improbabilities starts with the fact Marray and Nielsen had never even played in a Tour level match together prior to the tournament. In fact, Nielsen had not even won a Grand Slam match prior to the tournament. But deter them that did not, as they went on a seed-defeating mission starting with their first round match against Granollers and Lopez (the 9th seeds),and then proceeded to take out Qureshi and Roger (the 8th seeds) in round three, and finally dethroning the defending Wimbledon champs and second seeds, the Bryan brothers in the semis.
Today’s affair was a see-saw battle that began on Court 1, but eventually moved to Centre Court due to rain. Using his Biomimetic 500 Tour, a racquet known for its power, Marray served out the match with some deft net assistance from Nielsen and the duo began their victory celebration in front of delirious fans.
“What an amazing, storybook ending for Jonathan and Frederick,” said Kai Nitsche, VP and General Manager of Dunlop Sports Group Americas. “Jonathan has persevered on Tour for over a decade, and today he got to live out the ultimate dream by becoming a Grand Slam winner. We’re proud to have him as a member of the Dunlop Tour Team, and we look forward to seeing him play at the U.S. Open next month.”