Jonathan Marray

Jonathan Marray
Country United Kingdom Great Britain
Residence Sheffield, England
Born 10 March 1981
Liverpool, England
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro 2000
Plays Right-handed (1-handed backhand)
Prize money US$994,186
Singles
Career record 4–8
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 215 (25 April 2005)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open Q3 (2007)
French Open Q1 (2007)
Wimbledon 1R (2004, 2005, 2007)
US Open Q2 (2005)
Doubles
Career record 65–88
Career titles 2
Highest ranking No. 15 (28 January 2013)
Current ranking No. 58 (12 January 2015)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 2R (2013)
French Open 1R (2010, 2013)
Wimbledon W (2012)
US Open QF (2013)
Other Doubles tournaments
Tour Finals SF (2012)
Mixed Doubles
Career record 3–5
Career titles 0
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon 3R (2010)
US Open 1R (2012)
Last updated on: 22 November 2014.

Jonathan "Jonny" Marray (born 10 March 1981) is an English tennis player and a former Wimbledon Men's Doubles champion. Marray is primarily a doubles player, currently ranked World No. 27 and the British No. 2 behind Colin Fleming. He reached a career high of 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 as high as World No. 215 in April 2005.

Biography

Education

Marray was educated at All Saints Catholic High School, a Voluntary Aided Roman Catholic state secondary school in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire in Northern England.

Personal life and career

Born in Liverpool, Marray turned professional in 2000[1] and first came to prominence at the 2004 Queen's Club Championship where he reached the third round.[2] Marray has since played predominantly on the ATP Challenger Tour, where he has reached one singles final and won multiple doubles competitions. He reached his highest singles ranking of 215 in April 2005.[3]

Marray failed to progress further in the singles ranking, in part due to injuries,[1] but has enjoyed more success as a doubles player. In 2012 at Wimbledon he stunned the tennis world as he and his doubles partner, Frederik Nielsen, won a wildcard entry into Wimbledon 2012 and won the final in five sets, beating the much favoured fifth seeds, Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecău. Marray made history as the first British men's doubles champion since 1936, the same year that Fred Perry last won the Wimbledon singles title. He also became the first player alongside Nielsen to win the men's doubles event on a wildcard.

Tennis career

Early career

Marray made his doubles début at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships. He first hit the headlines in 2004, however, when he reached the third round of the 2004 Queen's Club Championship, getting his first wins on the ATP Tour. In the third round he lost to the sixth seed Lleyton Hewitt, 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.[4] This earned him his first singles appearance at Wimbledon as a wild card, although he was defeated in the first round.[3] In January 2005 he won his first Challenger doubles tournament in Wrexham, with Mark Hilton[5] He reached his highest singles ranking of 215 in May 2005.

He stayed in the top 300 of the singles ranking for all but one week from May 2004 to June 2006, but despite this consistency, did not progress any further.[6] 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 3–6, 2–6.

Marray suffered from a number of injuries through the middle of his career.[1] He continued to compete on the Challenger tour, although he eventually stopped playing singles matches.[1] Until 2012, his best Grand Slam performance was at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships when he reached the third round.[3]

2009–2011

2009 proved to be a breakthrough season for Marray. At Wimbledon, he made it into the third round for only the second time partnering longtime partner Jamie Delgado, they lost in straight sets to the second seeds and eventual winners, Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić 5–7, 4–6, 4–6.[3] 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,[7] winning two titles with Jamie Murray and one with Joshua Goodall. He finished the season in the top 100 for the first time.[6] Through 2010 and 2011, Marray continued to have some success on the Challenger circuit, competing in 14 finals and winning 7. He most successful Grand Slam appearance was t at the US Open where he again partnered Delgado. They made it into the third round but lost to sixth seeds and tournament runners up Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in three sets 7–6(7–5), 2–6, 3–6. He finished the season ranked 86th in the world.

2012

In 2012 Marray competed at both the Australian Open and the French Open but lost both in the first round. He partnered Jamie Delgado at the Australian Open and Dustin Brown at the French Open. He also reached seven Challenger tour finals, winning two with Dustin Brown.

During 2012, he began partnering Frederik Nielsen, reaching the final of the 2012 Aegon Trophy, but lost to fellow Brit Dominic Inglot and Treat Conrad Huey of the Philippines, in three sets 4–6, 7–6(11–9), 8–10.[8] At Wimbledon Marray and partner Frederik Nielsen were granted a wildcard. Marray was supposed to compete with Adil Shamasdin, 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 in 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 and Horia Tecău, winning 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 in 2007; Marray and Nielsen became the first players to get to the final and to win the men's doubles on a wildcard at Wimbledon.[9] 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 and England's No. 1.

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.[10] 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 and Marinko Matosevic 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 and Scott Lipsky in straight sets 1–6, 3–6. He partnered Vladimíra Uhlířová.

At the Paris Masters, 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 in three sets. They eventually lost to fifth seeds and eventual winners Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna 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, for which they qualified thanks to winning at Wimbledon.[11] 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 and Marc López in straight sets 4–6, 3–6. Marray ended the year ranked No. 17 in the world, a career high that makes him the British and English No. 1 doubles player.

2013

Marray began 2013 partnering Dustin Brown, reaching the semi-finals of the Qatar Open before being defeated by Filip Polášek and Julian Knowle in three sets. At the Australian Open, Marray partnered Brazilian player André Sá, and the pair were seeded 16th. They reached the second round, where they were defeated by Dutch pair Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling in straight sets. Marray later teamed up with fellow Brit Colin Fleming for several events, including a semifinal appearance at the Open Sud de France, where they were the top seeds. After the pair were knocked out in the first round of the Miami Masters, Marray and Fleming headed to Coventry, UK to play in the doubles rubber of Great Britain's Davis Cup tie with Russia. The pair won against Victor Baluda and Igor Kunitsyn in straight sets to keep the tie alive after the team had lost the first two rubbers in five sets. Continuing his partnership with Fleming, Marray reached his second career ATP final, at the 2013 Aegon International. En route to the final, the pair defeated Marray's former partner Frederik Nielsen, with whom he had won the Wimbledon doubles title the previous year. In the final the pair faced the duo of Austrian Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares 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 as defending champion, but despite his previous success with Frederik Nielsen, the two decided not to play together, Marray instead was partnered by Colin Fleming. 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, and Robert Lindstedt, 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, however despite a close opening set, the Brits were ultimately defeated in straight sets. Marray had to miss both Montreal and Cincinnati 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 and Édouard Roger-Vasselin before falling to Bob and Mike Bryan in a close straight sets encounter.

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, 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.

ATP career finals

Doubles: 6 (2 title, 4 runners-up)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (1–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–4)
Finals by Surface
Hard (1–3)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (1–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Winner 1. 7 July 2012 Wimbledon, London, Great Britain Grass Denmark Frederik Nielsen Sweden Robert Lindstedt
Romania Horia Tecău		 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 (7–5), 6–7 (5–7), 6–3
Runner-up 1. 21 June 2013 Aegon International, Eastbourne, Great Britain Grass United Kingdom Colin Fleming Austria Alexander Peya
Brazil Bruno Soares		 6–3, 3–6, [8–10]
Runner-up 2. 29 July 2013 BB&T Atlanta Open, Atlanta, United States Hard United Kingdom Colin Fleming France Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Netherlands Igor Sijsling		 6–7(6–8), 3–6
Runner-up 3. 23 February 2014 Open 13, Marseille, France Hard (i) Australia Paul Hanley France Julien Benneteau
France Édouard Roger-Vasselin		 6-4, 6–7 (6–8), [11–13]
Winner 2. 11 January 2015 Chennai Open, Chennai, India Hard Chinese Taipei Lu Yen-hsun South Africa Raven Klaasen
India Leander Paes		 6-3, 7–6 (7–4)
Runner-up 4. 22 February 2015 Open 13, Marseille, France Hard (i) United Kingdom Colin Fleming Croatia Marin Draganja
Finland Henri Kontinen		 4–6, 6–3, [8–10]

ATP Challenger career finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (0–1)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1. 14 November 2005 Nottingham, Great Britain Hard (o) Czech Republic Robin Vik 3–6, 2–6

Doubles: 33 (18–15)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (18–15)

Doubles career summary

Men's Doubles

Key
W  F  SF QF R# RR LQ (Q#) A P Z# PO SF-B F-S G NMS NH

Won tournament; or reached Final; Semifinal; Quarter-final; Round 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a Round Robin stage; lost in Qualification Round; absent from tournament event; played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off; won a bronze, silver (F or S) or gold medal at the Olympics; a downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament (Not a Masters Series); or a tournament that was Not Held in a given year.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended. To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Updated as of 2013 US Open

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Career
Grand Slams
Australian Open A A A A A A A A A A 1R 2R 1R 1–2
French Open A A A A A A A A 1R A 1R 1R A 0–3
Wimbledon 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 3R 1R 3R 1R 2R W 3R 2R 15–12
US Open A A A A A A A A A 3R 2R QF 1R 6–4
Grand Slam Win–Loss 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 0–1 2–1 0–2 3–2 7–3 3–4 1–3 19–21
ATP World Tour Finals
ATP World Tour Finals A A A A A A A A A A SF A A 2–2
Olympics
Summer Olympics Not Held A Not Held A Not Held A NH 0–0
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A A A A 2R 2R 2–2
Miami Masters A A A A A A A A A A A 1R 2R 1–2
Monte Carlo Masters A A A A A A A A A A A 2R A 1–1
Rome Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0–0
Madrid Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0–0
Canada Masters A A A A A A A A A A 1R A A 0–1
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A A A A A A 1R A A 0–1
Shanghai Masters NM1 A A A 2R 2R A 2–2
Paris Masters A A A A A A A A A A SF 1R A 3–2
Hamburg Masters A A A A A A A NM1 0–0
Win-Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 4–4 3–5 2–2 9–11
ATP Final Appearances 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 4
ATP Titles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Year End Ranking 198 248 196 159 177 331 389 92 112 86 17 41 76

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Wimbledon 2012: Britain's Jonathan Marray books doubles semi-final spot". London: The Guardian. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  2. ↑ "Six Brits to watch in the future". BBC Sport. 17 June 2004. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Jonathan Marray". All England Club. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  4. ↑ "Young Brits fall at Queen's". BBC Sport. 10 June 2004. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  5. ↑ "Wrexham Challenger". ITF. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Johnathan Marray Ranking History". ATP. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  7. ↑ Tongue, Steve (9 July 2012). "Britain has no place in Olympic Games for Jonathan Marray the history man". The Independent (London). Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  8. ↑ "Filipino Treat Conrad Huey and British Partner Dominic Inglot won Aegon Trophy 2012.". Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  9. ↑ "Wimbledon 2012: Briton's Jonathan Marray wins men's doubles final". BBC Sport. 7 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Newman, Paul (3 November 2012). "Jonny Marray aiming to cash in with another double delight". London: The Independent. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  11. ↑ "Doubles delight for Marray and Nielsen after qualifying for ATP finals at O2". Daily Mail (London). 15 October 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2012.

External links