Saturday 1 February 2020 13:31, UK
Jamie Murray missed out on an eighth Grand Slam doubles title as he and Bethanie Mattek-Sands were beaten in the Australian Open mixed doubles final.
The British-American pair were beaten 5-7 6-4 10-1 by fifth seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Nikola Mektic on Saturday, as Murray missed out on becoming Britain's most successful Grand Slam player of the Open era.
Murray, who is yet to win an Australian Open mixed doubles title, would have overtaken Virginia Wade to hold the national record had he won an eighth Grand Slam doubles title.
The 33-year-old became the first man in the Open era to win three successive US Open mixed titles at Flushing Meadows last year, defending the title alongside Mattek-Sands.
Murray was broken in the opening game of the match, as Czech Krejcikova, who won the title alongside Rajeev Ram last year, and Croat Mektic began the stronger pair under the roof on Rod Laver Arena.
However, the British-American pair recovered from 5-3 down to win four successive games as Mattek-Sands produced some inspired tennis to secure the decisive second break and the set.
Murray was broken for the second time in the match at 2-2 in the second set, before they fell a double break behind at 5-2 when Mattek-Sands lost her serve.
The unseeded pair duo did retrieve one break back on the Krejcikova serve, but Mektic held serve to take the match to a deciding champions tie-break.
And it was the fifth seeds who quickly took control as they won the final eight points of the match to win their first Grand Slam doubles title together.
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