Jonathan Marray (born 10 March 1981) is a former British tennis player and a Wimbledon Men's Doubles champion. Marray is a former top 20 doubles player, reaching a career high of world no. 15 in January 2013, mainly due to more regular appearances on the ATP World Tour, following his victory at Wimbledon 2012. He has also competed on the singles tour, reaching world no. 215 in April 2005, but was unable to continue his singles career, in part due to injuries.
Marray first came to prominence at the 2004 Queen's Club Championship where he reached the third round. Marray has since played predominantly on the
ATP Challenger Tour
The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP T ...
, where he has reached one singles final and won multiple doubles competitions.
In 2012 at Wimbledon, he and his doubles partner,
Frederik Nielsen
Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
, on a wildcard entry into the tournament, won the final in five sets, beating the much favoured fifth seeds,
Robert Lindstedt
Robert Lindstedt (born 19 March 1977) is a Swedish former professional tennis player who specialized in doubles. He turned professional in 1998, and reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in May 2013. Lindstedt won his first Grand ...
and
Horia Tecău
Horia Tecău (; born January 19, 1985) is a Romanian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.
He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2017 US Open alongside Jean-Julien Rojer ...
. Marray was the first British men's doubles champion since
Raymond Tuckey
Charles Raymond Davys Tuckey (15 June 1910 – 15 October 2005) was an English tennis player.
Raymond Tuckey and Pat Hughes won the doubles in Wimbledon in 1936, defeating Charles Hare and Frank Wilde in five sets. In 1937 he again reached t ...
Fred Perry
Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...
last won the Wimbledon singles title. Marray and Nielsen also became the first players to win the men's doubles event on a wildcard.
Marray made his Davis Cup debut at 32, playing with
Colin Fleming
Colin Fleming (born 13 August 1984) is a British retired professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.
As part of the Davis Cup team, he won eight successive doubles matches to help Great Britain into the World Group. He also won his ...
Marray was born in Fazakerley, Liverpool, his father Kevin worked in computing at the
Midland Bank
Midland Bank Plc was one of the Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birmingham, England in August 1836. It ...
, now
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...
, and his mother Kathleen was a nurse. Because of his father's job, they moved to Sheffield when Marray was three years old.
Marray attended Catholic primary school St Wilfrid's. Marray didn't start playing tennis until he was 10, when his mother took the family to a local club, Abbeydale Tennis Club, after watching Wimbledon.
Marray was educated at All Saints Catholic High School, a
Voluntary Aided
A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...
Roman Catholic state secondary school, and played on the school's tennis courts Marray played tennis with his brother David at Hallamshire Tennis and Squash Club, and at the HSBC courts in Dore, Sheffield. Two years older, David held the upper hand on the tennis court until Jonny was 14
After A-levels, he decided against university and turned professional in 2000. Most British professionals are nurtured from childhood as part of the Lawn Tennis Association's elite. Marray had not competed in junior grand slam tournaments and didn't have a junior world ranking, but he was determined to give it a go.
Marray has been confused for
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
, especially when Andy first came on to the scene. While playing in Challenger tournaments in the US, people were asking, ‘are you the new kid, the next big thing?’. “Although I had to tell them I wasn't, every time I say Marray, they say Murray.”
Marray shared a house in Sheffield with his sister, Siobhan, which he bought with his brother, David
Career
2000
In February, Marray made his doubles debut at the Hull Challenger with Ben Gudzelak where they reached the quarterfinal. Marray/Gudzelak played five more tournaments in 2000.
Marray played his first singles match at the Dublin Futures F2 in June, losing in the first round.
At his second tournament in November, Marray won the India F4 Futures in Lucknow.
2001–2006
Marray partnered Ben Riby and James May in the first half of 2001, then
David Sherwood
David Sherwood is a British tennis coach and retired tennis player. In his only live Davis Cup match, Sherwood played doubles with Andy Murray beating the Israeli World No 4 doubles team of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram,
Early and personal life ...
from July 2001 to June 2003;Marray/Sherwood winning five Futures titles during this period. Marray's first grand slam was the
2002 Wimbledon Championships
The 2002 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 116th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fr ...
with
David Sherwood
David Sherwood is a British tennis coach and retired tennis player. In his only live Davis Cup match, Sherwood played doubles with Andy Murray beating the Israeli World No 4 doubles team of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram,
Early and personal life ...
, losing in the 1st round.
From July 2003. Marray began a long-term partnership with Mark Hilton that lasted till the end of 2005, though it was not exclusive.
In early 2004, Marray won the British Satellite event in singles at Sheffield, while Marray/Hilton won four doubles tournaments on the satellite tour and consequently, Marray was announced for his Davis Cup debut in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I tie against Luxembourg. However he missed out when his teammates
Tim Henman
Timothy Henry Henman (born 6 September 1974) is a British former professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis. He was the first British man to reach the singles semifinals of Wimbledon since Roger Taylor in the ...
,
Greg Rusedski
Gregory Rusedski (born 6 September 1973) is a British and Canadian former tennis player. He was the British No. 1 in 1997, 1999 and 2006, and reached the ATP ranking of world No. 4 for periods from 6 October 1997 to 12 October 1997 and from 25 ...
and
Arvind Parmar
Arvind Parmar (born 1978 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire) is a former British professional tennis player whose career ran from 1997 to 2006. After retiring, he coached British junior No. 1, Ahmed El Menshawy. and also coached another British junior, ...
all played; Great Britain winning 4–1.
He first hit the headlines, when he reached the third round of the 2004 Queen's Club Singles, getting his first wins on the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...
. In the third round he lost to the sixth seed
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 200 ...
, 7–6(2), 7–6 (8), wasting seven set points over two sets (respectively six and one), Hewitt needed five match points to finish the contest. This earned him his first singles appearance at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
as a wild card, although he was defeated in the first round by
Karol Beck
Karol Beck (born 3 April 1982) is a male former tennis player from Slovakia, who turned professional in 2001. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 36, achieved in August 2005. Beck reached the fourth round of the 2004 US Open and the qu ...
.
At this time, Marray was seen as a possible successor to
Tim Henman
Timothy Henry Henman (born 6 September 1974) is a British former professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis. He was the first British man to reach the singles semifinals of Wimbledon since Roger Taylor in the ...
, having a natural serve/volley game.
In September 2004, Marray/Sherwood won their sixth and final Futures title, Mulhouse France F14.
In January 2005 he won his first Challenger doubles tournament in
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
, with Mark Hilton He reached his highest singles ranking of 215 in May 2005.
In 2006, Marray mainly partnered
Martin Lee
Martin Lee Chu-ming, SC, JP (; born 8 June 1938) is a Hong Kong politician and barrister. He is the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and its successor, the Democratic Party, Hong Kong's flagship pro-democracy party. He ...
, but played with eleven other players, winning 3 Challengers and a Futures tournament.
From May 2004 to June 2006, he stayed in the top 300 of the singles ranking for all but one week, but despite this consistency, did not progress any further. He reached a then-high of 138 in the doubles in August 2005. He did manage to make a final in singles of an ATP Challenger event, at the Nottingham Challenger event where he lost in straight sets to
Robin Vik
Robin Vik (born 5 February 1980 in Hradec Králové) is a Czech professional tennis player.
Vik turned professional in 1995 and he reached a career high ranking of World No. 57 in January 2006. Career highlight runs are reaching the semifinals o ...
3–6, 2–6.
2007–2008
At
Wimbledon 2007
The 2007 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 121st edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...
, partnering
Richard Bloomfield
Richard Bloomfield (born 27 April 1983, in Norwich) is an English professional male tennis player. He turned professional in 2002Bryan brothers
The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are retired American professional doubles tennis players and the most successful duo of all time. They were born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being the elder by two minutes. ...
. This was his best
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
performance until 2012. His doubles ranking was a lot higher than in singles, so he took the opportunity to play better tournaments in doubles than singles. He continued to compete on the Challenger tour, although he eventually stopped playing singles matches.
Following the Championships, Marray was injured and after shoulder surgery, he struggled to find form and confidence, and considered quitting. Marray didn't play again until
Wimbledon 2008
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...
where he and
Alex Bogdanovic
Aleksa Bogdanovic ( sr, Алекса Богдановић, Aleksa Bogdanović; born 22 May 1984) is a retired Serbian-born English tennis player and former UK no 2. On the professional tour, he won 9 Challenger titles and 4 Futures events, but ...
were beaten in the first round. At his next tournament, Marray and
Frederik Nielsen
Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
reached the finals of the Dublin Challenger.
In December 2008, Marray partnered
Colin Fleming
Colin Fleming (born 13 August 1984) is a British retired professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.
As part of the Davis Cup team, he won eight successive doubles matches to help Great Britain into the World Group. He also won his ...
whose regular partner
Ken Skupski
Ken Skupski Jr. (born 9 April 1983) is a British former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.
He reached his career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 44 in July 2010, and won seven titles on the ATP Tour, most notably the ...
was resting, and played in the Czech Republic, winning two Futures in Frydland Nad Ostravici, and Opava
2009
In January, Marray and
Richard Bloomfield
Richard Bloomfield (born 27 April 1983, in Norwich) is an English professional male tennis player. He turned professional in 2002
Marray teamed up with fourteen players this year, but his lack of success meant he came close to giving up numerous times and becoming a coach. In 2009, things reached their nadir, but it proved to be a breakthrough season. Marray said "I played in a qualifying match in Nottingham just before Wimbledon, and I wasn't even trying to win the match. I just wanted off the court. I was 29 years old and I thought, if I'm doing that, what am I even doing playing tennis? It was quite emotional." However the fear that he hadn't done himself justice stopped him quitting.
At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, he made it into the third round for only the second time, whilst partnering
Jamie Delgado
Jamie Delgado (born 21 March 1977) is a British tennis coach and former professional player. Delgado has represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup, most recently in 2006.
Delgado holds the all-time male record for playing in consecutive Wimb ...
in their fifth event of the year. They lost in straight sets to the second seeds and eventual winners,
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player.
Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal
...
and
Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Зимоњић, ; born 4 June 1976) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon Cham ...
5–7, 4–6, 4–6. This thrust him back into the top 200 of the world's doubles rankings, setting off a period of improved form. Following Wimbledon, Marray's increased ranking allowed him to become a regular on the
ATP Challenger Tour
The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP T ...
, winning two titles with
Jamie Murray
Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
and one with
Joshua Goodall
Joshua Jake Goodall (born 17 October 1985) is a retired English tennis player, former British no 2 and Davis Cup player. He is currently Director of Tennis.
Personal life
Goodall attended Cranbourne School, now called Cranbourne Business and ...
. He finished the season in the top 100 for the first time.
2010-2011
Marray had partnered
Jamie Murray
Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
sporadically, but now played regularly with him for the first 7 months of 2010. Thereafter Marray embarked on a steady partnership with
Jamie Delgado
Jamie Delgado (born 21 March 1977) is a British tennis coach and former professional player. Delgado has represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup, most recently in 2006.
Delgado holds the all-time male record for playing in consecutive Wimb ...
until January 2012.
Through 2010 and 2011, Marray continued to have some success on the Challenger circuit, competing in 14 finals and winning 7. His most successful Grand Slam appearance was at the 2011 US Open with Delgado. They made it into the third round but lost to sixth seeds and tournament runners up
Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Mariusz Stanisław Fyrstenberg (born 8 July 1980) is a retired left-handed Polish tennis player who was a doubles specialist.
Fyrstenberg primarily partnered Marcin Matkowski. The pair won the Madrid Open twice, in addition to reaching the fina ...
and
Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski (; born 15 January 1981) is a Polish former professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. He played college tennis at UCLA, where Jean-Julien Rojer was one of his teammates. Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg won the ...
in three sets 7–6(7–5), 2–6, 3–6. He finished the season ranked 86th in the world.
2012: Wimbledon Men's Doubles Champion
Marray partnered
Jamie Delgado
Jamie Delgado (born 21 March 1977) is a British tennis coach and former professional player. Delgado has represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup, most recently in 2006.
Delgado holds the all-time male record for playing in consecutive Wimb ...
at the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, but lost both in the first round. He also reached seven Challenger tour finals, winning two in
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
with Dustin Brown.
Marray had been friends with
Frederik Nielsen
Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
since their early days on the senior tour, but had only played together twice before in 2006 and 2008. However, during 2012, he began partnering Frederik Nielsen, reaching the final of the 2012 Aegon Trophy, but lost to fellow Brit
Dominic Inglot
Dominic Inglot ( ; born 6 March 1986) is a British former professional tennis player and a Davis Cup champion. A doubles specialist; he made the final of twenty seven ATP World Tour events, winning fourteen, including the Citi Open and Swiss In ...
and
Treat Conrad Huey
Treat Conrad Huey (; born August 28, 1985) is a Filipino-American tennis player who represents the Philippines in international competitions. He turned professional in 2008 and he started representing the Philippines in the Davis Cup and the ...
of the Philippines, in three sets 4–6, 7–6(11–9), 8–10.
At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, Marray and partner
Frederik Nielsen
Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
were granted a wildcard. Marray was supposed to compete with
Adil Shamasdin
Adil Shamasdin ( ; born May 23, 1982) is a Canadians, Canadian professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He reached his highest doubles ranking of world No. 41 on June 26, 2017.
Tennis career
Shamasdin's junior career saw him finish ...
, but they did not get their paperwork in time. Before they reached the finals, they defeated two seeded teams, in addition to the defending champions
Bob and Mike Bryan
The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are retired American professional doubles tennis players and the most successful duo of all time. They were born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being the elder by two minutes. ...
in the semi-final, over four sets 6–4, 7–6(11–9), 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–5). By getting into the final, Marray became the first British man to get to a Wimbledon men's doubles final since 1960. In the final, they faced fifth seeds
Robert Lindstedt
Robert Lindstedt (born 19 March 1977) is a Swedish former professional tennis player who specialized in doubles. He turned professional in 1998, and reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in May 2013. Lindstedt won his first Grand ...
and
Horia Tecău
Horia Tecău (; born January 19, 1985) is a Romanian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.
He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2017 US Open alongside Jean-Julien Rojer ...
. At one set all, during the third set tie break, Marray called a fault on himself after the umpire did not see that he had inadvertently touched the net while hitting a volley, which earned him praise for his sportsmanship and honesty. Despite this, Marray and Nielsen went on to win in five sets 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(5–7), 6–3.
Marray became the first British player to win the Wimbledon men's doubles final since 1936, he thus became the first British person to win any Wimbledon Championship title since
Jamie Murray
Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
in 2007; Marray and Nielsen became the first players to get to the final and to win the men's doubles on a
wildcard
Wild card most commonly refers to:
* Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games
* Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...
at Wimbledon. This also raised his doubles ranking to a career-high no. 21 in the world. This was the first time Marray broke into the top 50 in the rankings, making him Britain's No. 1.
Marray credited sport psychologist, Richard De Souza, for helping him win Wimbledon. Saying that Richard “has been the biggest help to my tennis this year. A lot of my performances this week have to be put down to the work I have done with him.”
In spite of their Wimbledon victory, Nielsen declared that he liked playing singles, and wouldn't be playing doubles full-time.
Following his win, Marray received direct entry to higher level Masters tournaments for the first time. He initially struggled, however, playing with seven different partners and winning just two of thirteen matches in his eleven tournaments after Wimbledon. At the US Open Marray partnered again with Nielsen and were ranked as the eleventh seeds. They were beaten in the second round by
Jesse Levine
Jesse Levine (born October 15, 1987) is an American-Canadian former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles rank of world No. 69 on October 1, 2012. Levine represented the United States through 2012, and he represented Can ...
and
Marinko Matosevic
Marinko Matosevic ( hr, Marinko Matošević, ; born 8 August 1985) is a retired Australian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 39, which he achieved in February 2013. Matosevic defeated top players including ...
in three sets 1–6, 7–6(8–6), 4–6. Marray also competed in the Mixed doubles event but lost in the first round to
Abigail Spears
Abigail Michal Spears (born July 12, 1981) is a former professional tennis player from the United States.
She was suspended for doping offences from 7 November 2019 until 7 September 2021.
Biography 2000–2011
Spears turned professional in ...
and
Scott Lipsky
Scott Lipsky (born August 14, 1981 in Merrick, New York) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. As a player, Lipsky was primarily a doubles specialist.
As a junior, Lipsky was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in singles in 1995, a ...
in straight sets 1–6, 3–6. He partnered
Vladimíra Uhlířová
Vladimíra Uhlířová (born 4 May 1978) is a retired Czech tennis player.
In her career, she won five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 17 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In October 2003, she reached her best singles ranki ...
.
At the
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy.
The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association o ...
, Marray had his most successful run at a masters 1000 and since Wimbledon, reaching the semi-finals with Paul Hanley. On their way to the semi-finals they beat top seeds the
Bryan Brothers
The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are retired American professional doubles tennis players and the most successful duo of all time. They were born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being the elder by two minutes. ...
in three sets. They eventually lost to fifth seeds and eventual winners
Mahesh Bhupathi
Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...
and
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His tennis singles, singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member ...
in straight sets. This put Marray into the top 20 for the first time in his career. Following straight on from Paris, he and Nielsen competed at the
ATP World Tour Finals
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
, for which they qualified thanks to winning at Wimbledon. The pair won their opening two matches of the group but lost their final match, however they qualified out of the robin round. They were eliminated in the semi-finals to eventual winners
Marcel Granollers
Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 in July 2012, and his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in February 2013. Granollers h ...
and
Marc López
Marc López Tarrés (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish retired professional tennis player and coach. His career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ATP rankings, ranking was world No. 106 (May 2004) and world No. 3 in doubl ...
in straight sets 4–6, 3–6. Marray ended the year ranked No. 17 in the world, a career high that made him the Britain's No. 1 doubles player.
In December, the
Lawn Tennis Association
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Founded in 1888, the LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. It believes that tennis can provide "physical ...
announced that Marray was one of 21 players set to receive the LTA's highest level of funding next season, which is supported through Team Aegon.
2013
Marray began 2013 partnering Dustin Brown, reaching the semi-finals of the Qatar Open before being defeated by
Filip Polášek
Filip Polášek (; born 21 July 1985) is a Slovak professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
He was forced to retire in 2013 due to health issues, but returned in 2018 and began the most successful phase of his career. Polášek wo ...
and
Julian Knowle
Julian Knowle (born 29 April 1974) is an Austrian former male professional tennis player. Being a born left-hander, Knowle was one of the few on the ATP Tour who played his forehand, backhand, and even volleys double-handed. He was Austria's m ...
in three sets. At the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Marray was seeded for the first time at a Grand Slam, partnering Brazilian player André Sá, and seeded 16th. They reached the second round, where they were defeated by Dutch pair
Robin Haase
Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player.
He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012, and has won two singles titles, at the Austrian Open in both 2011 and 2012. Haase also reac ...
and
Igor Sijsling
Igor Sijsling (; born 18 August 1987) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Sijsling reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 52 on 17 February 2014. His biggest accomplishment is reaching the final of Australian Open Do ...
in straight sets. On 28 January he achieved his highest ranking, reaching number 15 in the world, no English born doubles player has ever been ranked higher (doubles rankings being introduced in 1976)
Marray later teamed up with fellow Brit
Colin Fleming
Colin Fleming (born 13 August 1984) is a British retired professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.
As part of the Davis Cup team, he won eight successive doubles matches to help Great Britain into the World Group. He also won his ...
for several events, including a semifinal appearance at the
Open Sud de France
The Open Sud de France (formerly known as the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It was held annually at the Palais des ...
, where they were the top seeds.
After the pair were knocked out in the first round of the
Miami Masters
The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
, Marray and Fleming headed to Coventry, UK to play in the doubles rubber of Great Britain's Davis Cup tie with Russia. Marray was making his Davis Cup debut at 32.
After the Great Britain team had lost the first two singles rubbers, the pair won against Victor Baluda and
Igor Kunitsyn
Igor Konstantinovich Kunitsyn ( rus, И́горь Константи́нович Куни́цын, , ˈiɡərʲ kʊˈnʲitsɨn; born September 30, 1981) is a retired tennis player from Russia. He made it into the top 100 for the first time in ...
6–1, 6–4, 6–2 in only an hour and a half to keep the tie alive.
A day later
James Ward James Ward may refer to:
Military
*James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1864) (1833–?), American Civil War sailor
* James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1890) (1854–1901), American Indian Wars soldier
*James Allen Ward (1919–1941), New Zealand pilot and Vi ...
levelled the tie at 2–2 after beating Tursunov in five sets. Dan Evans then defeated world no. 80
Evgeny Donskoy
Evgeny Evgenyevich Donskoy ( rus, Евге́ний Евге́ньевич Донско́й, , ɪ̯ɪvˈɡʲenʲɪɪ̯ dɐnˈskoɪ̯; born 9 May 1990) is a Russian professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 65, ...
comprehensively in straight sets, thus securing what was described as a "famous victory". The last time Great Britain had come from 2–0 down to win a Davis Cup tie was 83 years ago against Germany, Consequently, Great Britain won a place in the 16-team World Group play-offs in September.
Continuing his partnership with Fleming, Marray reached his second career ATP final, at the
2013 Aegon International
The 2013 Aegon International was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 39th edition of the event for the women and the 5th edition for the men. It was classified as a WTA Premier tournament on ...
. En route to the final, the pair defeated Marray's former partner
Frederik Nielsen
Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
, with whom he had won the Wimbledon doubles title the previous year. In the final the pair faced the duo of Austrian
Alexander Peya
Alexander Peya (born 27 June 1980) is an Austrian male tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 92 in April 2007. His career-high doubles ranking is World No. 3, first achieved in August 2013.
In September 2008 Peya h ...
and
Bruno Soares
Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...
of Brazil. Despite a strong start in which they took the first set, the pair couldn't maintain their intensity and ultimately lost in three sets, a trio of double faults from Marray in the 8th game of the second set proving to be fatal.
Marray entered
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
as defending champion, but despite his previous success with
Frederik Nielsen
Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
, the two decided not to play together, Marray instead was partnered by
Colin Fleming
Colin Fleming (born 13 August 1984) is a British retired professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.
As part of the Davis Cup team, he won eight successive doubles matches to help Great Britain into the World Group. He also won his ...
. The two made it to the third round, but they couldn't replicate the form that saw Marray clinch the title during the previous season, going out in straight sets to
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player.
Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal
...
, and
Robert Lindstedt
Robert Lindstedt (born 19 March 1977) is a Swedish former professional tennis player who specialized in doubles. He turned professional in 1998, and reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in May 2013. Lindstedt won his first Grand ...
, against whom Marray won the title the previous year. Failure to defend his title meant that Marray plummeted 19 places in the ATP rankings to no. 34, making him the second ranked British player behind Fleming.
Following on from Wimbledon, Marray remained in his partnership with Fleming, and going into the American hardcourt season, the pair made their second final of the year at the BB&T Atlanta Open, Marray's first on hard courts. Here they faced French-Dutch duo of Edouard Roger-Vasselin and
Igor Sijsling
Igor Sijsling (; born 18 August 1987) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Sijsling reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 52 on 17 February 2014. His biggest accomplishment is reaching the final of Australian Open Do ...
, however despite a close opening set, the Brits were ultimately defeated in straight sets. Marray had to miss both
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
and
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
due to injury, and so the pair played their next tournament at the US Open. Marray reached only the second Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career, defeating Indian/French duo of
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His tennis singles, singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member ...
and
Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Édouard Roger-Vasselin (; born 28 November 1983) is a French professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles.
He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2014 French Open, winning the men's doubles partnering Julien Benneteau, a ...
before falling to
Bob and Mike Bryan
The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are retired American professional doubles tennis players and the most successful duo of all time. They were born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being the elder by two minutes. ...
in a close straight sets encounter.
For the Davis Cup World Group play-off against Croatia in Umag on clay, Andy Murray, Dan Evans, James Ward and Colin Fleming were initially announced as the Great Britain team. However captain Leon Smith, called up Marray and Kyle Edmund, with Marray replacing James Ward, to give the team more doubles options, and Kyle Edmund acting as a hitting partner. In the event, Andy Murray, playing in his first Davis Cup tie for two years, won both his singles matches and the doubles with Colin Fleming to beat Croatia 4–1, and return Great Britain to the World Group for the first time since 2008.
During the Asian swing of tournaments, Marray continued to partner Fleming, however the pair only managed two second round appearances, at the China Open and the Shanghai Masters respectively. After the pair lost in the first round of the Swiss Indoors, Marray parted ways with Fleming, playing his final tournament of the year with
Igor Sijsling
Igor Sijsling (; born 18 August 1987) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Sijsling reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 52 on 17 February 2014. His biggest accomplishment is reaching the final of Australian Open Do ...
, however once again losing his opening match. Marray ended the year ranked number 41 in the world, having lost a considerable number of points from failing to qualify for the
ATP World Tour Finals
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
.
In November, the
Lawn Tennis Association
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Founded in 1888, the LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. It believes that tennis can provide "physical ...
announced a dramatic cut in elite player funding, with all financial support being withdrawn from Britain's doubles specialists and any singles players aged over 24, to reduce the number of supported players from 16 this year to just six in 2014.
2014
Marray struggled for full fitness and finding a regular doubles partner, travelling to tournaments with no plan whatsoever.
He jetted out to Indian Wells in March, unable to convince anyone to join him on court, until Wimbledon's reigning men's singles champion
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
offered to play with him.
After fans queued around the grounds to watch
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
and
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His ca ...
play together, it was standing room only for Murray and Marray's first competitive match together. Andy Murray and Jonny Marray won a thrilling doubles clash against
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in November 2016. H ...
and
Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Miami Masters, and achieved a career-high singles ranking ...
, 6–4 4–6 11–9, only to lose in the second round 7–6 (7–1), 6–3 to the No 2 seeds
Alexander Peya
Alexander Peya (born 27 June 1980) is an Austrian male tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 92 in April 2007. His career-high doubles ranking is World No. 3, first achieved in August 2013.
In September 2008 Peya h ...
and
Bruno Soares
Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...
.
Following this, Marray was then out for two months with a torn calf.
At Wimbledon, playing with Australian
John-Patrick Smith
John-Patrick Tracey "JP" Smith (born 24 January 1989) is an Australian professional tennis player who competes mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour, both in singles and doubles. He attended the University of Tennessee from 2007 through 2011 where ...
for the first time, they won their first round match 6–4 5–7 6–4 over Andreas Siljeström and
Igor Zelenay
Igor Zelenay (; born 10 February 1982) is a Slovak professional tennis player. He is a doubles specialist who has won 1 ATP Tour title and finished runner-up at 4 other ATP 250 tournaments. He reached a career-high ranking of World No. 50 in July ...
, before losing their next match against 15th seeds
Juan Sebastian Cabal
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
and
Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski (; born 15 January 1981) is a Polish former professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. He played college tennis at UCLA, where Jean-Julien Rojer was one of his teammates. Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg won the ...
.
In September,
Ross Hutchins
Ross Dan Hutchins (born 22 February 1985) is a retired British professional tennis player, known best as a doubles (tennis), doubles player, who achieved a highest doubles ranking of 26. He competed for England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in ...
decided to quit the Tour, soon after his return following treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
That prompted his partner Colin Fleming to team up with Jonny Marray.
Their first tournament together was the ATP Challenger in Istanbul. Their combined ranking points meant they were top seeds, making it all the way to the final and winning 6–4, 2–6, 10–8.
Marray and Fleming moved onto the main ATP tour event in Metz, however, as their combined ranking was not quite high enough for direct entry, they temporarily split. Marray paired up with Jamie Murray, Fleming partnered Michael Venus of New Zealand.
2015
In January, Marray and
Yen-Hsun Lu
Lu Yen-hsun (; born 14 August 1983) is a Taiwanese retired professional tennis player, who goes by the nickname Rendy Lu.
He won the most titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in tennis history. His favorite surface is hardcourt, though several of ...
claimed an impressive 6–3 7–6 (7/4) win over top seeds Raven Klassen and home favourite Leander Paes in the Chennai final in India. It was Marray's first ATP-level title since his famous surprise victory with Freddie Nielsen in SW19 back in 2012.
In February, Marray and Fleming were narrowly beaten in the doubles final at the
Open 13
The Open 13 is an annual men's tennis tournament played in Marseille, France. The tournament is an ATP World Tour 250 series event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. It is held for one week in February. The number 13 is the INSEE co ...
in Marseille. Looking for their first title together in their third final, Fleming and Marray went down 6–4 3–6 10–8 to Croatia's Marin Draganja and Henri Kontinen of Finland despite winning four more points.
Having failed to get the results they wanted, Fleming decided to split from Jonny Marray. Fleming said breaking the news to Marray, a good friend, had been hard.
In July, Marray won the ATP 250 event in Newport, Rhode Island alongside Pakistani player Aisam Qureshi. The win put Marray back into the world's top 50.
2016
Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, ranked 37, announced that during the 2016 season he would partner Marray ranked 53, but after three first round defeats, which included the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, they parted. Marray partnered
Mahesh Bhupathi
Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...
and
Rameez Junaid
Rameez Junaid (born 25 May 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player of Pakistani descent.
Junaid is based in Melbourne, Victoria, and is currently ranked in the top 100 in doubles. His doubles partners have included Philipp Marx, Ad ...
several times with occasional runs to the semi and quarter of Challengers and Tour events.
In April, Marray started a more successful regular partnership with Canadian
Adil Shamasdin
Adil Shamasdin ( ; born May 23, 1982) is a Canadians, Canadian professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He reached his highest doubles ranking of world No. 41 on June 26, 2017.
Tennis career
Shamasdin's junior career saw him finish ...
, reaching the semifinals of the
Aegon Surbiton Trophy
The Surbiton Trophy is a tennis tournament for male and female professional players played on grass courts. The event was held annually in Surbiton, England, from 1997 through 2008 as part of the ATP Challenger Series and ITF Women's Circuit. In ...
.
At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, Marray/Shamasdin beat last year's champions
Jean-Julien Rojer
Jean-Julien Rojer (; ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015.
He is a four-time Grand Slam champion, havi ...
and
Horia Tecău
Horia Tecău (; born January 19, 1985) is a Romanian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.
He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2017 US Open alongside Jean-Julien Rojer ...
in the first round and progressed to the quarterfinals. This was the first time Marray had reached this stage at a Grand Slam since his Championship win in 2012.
Two weeks later, Marray/Shamasdin reached the finals at the Hall of Fame Championships in Rhode Island.
2017: Final year and retirement
In February 2017 season Marray played his final tournaments and retired one month before his 36th birthday, having played professionally for 17 years. His last tournaments were the ATP250 event at the Open Sud De France, then the Challenger La Manche.