THE CRY from the stands was clearly heard time and again throughout the day: "Come on, you lovebirds." Jamie Murray and Jelena Jankovic may insist that their relationship is "purely professional" but they do make a lovely couple - sorry, pair. Today they have the chance to seal their partnership with the Wimbledon mixed doubles title.
Not only was yesterday their fourth successive day in action, but it was also one on which they were obliged to play twice, thanks to the weather backlog. Either that or they simply can't bear to be parted.
Yesterday evening in unaccustomed Centre Court sunshine, they spent much of their 6-4 4-6 6-4 semi-final win over Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovtseva giggling dewily at one another. Jankovic compounded the air of fluffy romance by wearing two purple Wimbledon petunias in her hair.
One syrupy theory among the crowd had it that Murray must have plucked the blooms from a hanging basket to give to her on their way to the court. And then there was their constant whispering and hand-holding throughout the match. Or possibly that could have been tactical consultation and perfectly ordinary team-tagging in much the same way as any other doubles pair. But don't let's allow the facts to get in the way of a good story.
If it's facts we're dealing in, then they are these. The Scot-Serb pair commenced this semi-final barely one hour after completing a testing quarter-fi-nal. Nestor and Likhovtseva were in the same boat, although their quarter-final was more straightforward to grant a rest of almost five hours between matches.
Advertisement
Jankovic, 22, and Murray, 23, had disposed of three seeded pairings on their way to this semi-final, but the evening's opposition looked formidable. Doubles legend Nestor, now a 34-year-old veteran, has just the 48 career doubles titles under his belt, while the Russian not only has 27 of her own but won the 2002 Wimbledon mixed crown with Mahesh Bhupathi.
Yet it was the Canadian-Rus-sian pairing who fell behind in the first set. At 2-2 on Nestor's serve he was forced into an error, bringing up two break points. Murray converted the second with a lovely smash for the break, and they were on their way.
So relaxed were Murray and Jankovic that when the Scot elected to take a lavatory break with the first set safely secured, Jankovic invited a ballboy to occupy the vacant chair during Murray's two-minute absence. When play restarted, the pair wasted four opportunities to break, again on Nestor's serve. Then, at 4-5 on Murray's serve, a couple of misjudgments gave their opponents the set. At once Murray and Jankovic made amends, unexpectedly coming back from 40-15 down to make the breach - yet again on Nestor's serve. At 2-0 some great teamwork brought Murray and Jankovic another break. Just as well.
Likhovtseva recovered some confidence, helping she and Nestor get one back. It was not enough. Murray closed out the match with a punching volley, and a rather tender kiss. Isn't love grand? Earlier Murray and Jankovic came through 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 against Cara Black and Marcin Matkowski. It was a close thing - they needed six match points to secure victory. To think Murray had never played mixed doubles before this Wimbledon. No doubt it's all about finding the right woman.
But they will need to wait until today to find out who they will play in the final. Jonas Bjorkman and Alicia Molik face Fabrice Santoro and Severine Bremond in the second semi-final this morning.
Advertisement
Earlier Nestor and Likhovtseva saw off Melanie South and Alex Bogdanovic 6-3 7-6 (7-4). The British pair came into their quarter-final having beaten the world number one pairing of Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond. To begin with the Britons held serve easily. But at 4-3 Likhovtseva and Nestor suddenly took control. South found herself at 0-40, Nestor punched away a volley for 5-3 and held to love to close out the set. Demoralised, the British pair saw their touch at the net desert them. The breakthrough on Bogdanovic's serve came at once. The number 11 seeds broke South to love. The Britons looked doomed. Yet at 2-5, facing two match points, they pulled both back and broke Likhovtseva's serve. They then followed that by breaking Nestor to love. But it was only postponing the inevitable, and in the tie-break Nestor closed out the match with an ace.