Murray/Mattek-Sands Retain US Open Mixed Doubles Title

Jamie Murray/Bethanie Mattek-Sands needed a wild card to have a chance at defending their US Open mixed doubles title, but made the most of their opportunity. They completed a successful title defense on Saturday by storming past top seeds Michael Venus/Hao-Ching Chan 6-2, 6-3.

“We played amazing the whole two weeks, especially the semi-finals and finals,” Murray said. “I know Beth loves playing in front of a lot of people and she was on fire today.”

The British-American pair stormed through the last five games of the opening set, with Murray knocking off a backhand volley winner to give them the early advantage. The second set opened with four consecutive breaks of serve, but Murray/Mattek-Sands found their form again and powered through the last three games of the match. A backhand return winner from Mattek-Sands wrapped up play after 59 minutes.

Murray/Mattek-Sands are the first team to defend a mixed doubles title in New York since Kevin Curren/Anne Smith in 1981-1982. Murray is also the first man in the Open Era to win three consecutive US Open mixed doubles titles, having won here in 2017 with Martina Hingis. This is his fifth Grand Slam mixed doubles title and the third for Mattek-Sands.

Venus/Chan drop to 0-2 in mixed doubles finals as a team, having also finished runner-up here in 2017. Murray/Mattek-Sands split $160,000 and Venus/Chan split $76,000.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2UD1MJg