Jamie Murray and Bethanie Mattek-Sands fight back to claim victory in US Open mixed doubles final

Murray and Mattek-Sands showed great resilience in coming from a set behind to beat Croatia’s Nikola Mektic and Poland’s Alicja Rosolska 2-6, 6-3, 11-9

Jamie Murray and Bethanie Mattek-Sands are US Open mixed doubles champions (Getty)

Jamie Murray underlined his reputation as the world’s best mixed doubles player here on Saturday when he won his second successive US Open title and his third in Grand Slam tournaments in the last 15 months.

Murray and Bethanie Mattek-Sands showed great resilience to fight back and beat Croatia’s Nikola Mektic and Poland’s Alicja Rosolska 2-6, 6-3, 11-9 after losing the first set and then trailing 4-1 in the match tie-break.

Last year Murray followed his Wimbledon triumph with Martina Hingis by winning here in New York. With Hingis retiring at the end of the year he joined forces with Victoria Azarenka at Wimbledon, where they finished as runners-up, and played here with Mattek-Sands for the first time.

The 32-year-old Scot, who won the first of his four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles alongside Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon 11 years ago, and the 33-year-old American have been an instant hit together. Both have been world No 1 in doubles and their natural instincts as doubles players have helped them to gel quickly as a team.

Murray and Mattek-Sands were favourites heading into the final (Getty Images)

“Jamie is very calm and poised out there and I’m very energetic,” Mattek-Sands said afterwards. “We match. We fit each other. He covers me, I cover him.”

Mattek-Sands, who had won two previous Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, was in tears at the presentation ceremony. Twelve months ago she was on crutches after suffering a horrific knee injury at Wimbledon. This was the first title she has won since her return.

Murray said they had had “an amazing two weeks”. He added: “We’ve played a lot of great tennis. Today things were going against us but we fought really hard to try to get back into the match.”

The Scot then led the crowd’s singing of “Happy Birthday” to his mother Judy, who was in the crowd, along with Hingis and another of his former partners, Liezel Huber, with whom he was runner-up here 10 years.

Murray and Mattek-Sands were the clear favourites to win the final but were pushed all the way by Mektic and Rosolska, who were also playing together for the first time.

Judy Murray was treated to a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ by the crowd (Getty Images)

Mektic and Rosolska covered the court superbly and for the first set and a half barely missed a ball. Rosolska regularly anticipated her opponents’ shots, while Mektic’s athleticism helped him make many telling interceptions. Time and again the Croatian hurled himself across the court to hit winning volleys.

Murray had strapping on his right knee, but there was no sign of the knee-length compression socks that Mattek-Sands had dared him to wear to match her own. The American also donned a floral version of her “snapback” caps, which Murray’s wife has been admiring here.

Arthur Ashe Stadium was probably no more than a quarter full for the midday start, though encouraging the spectators to sit in the lower sections of the huge stands ensured that there was a good atmosphere inside the arena. With an American in the team, it was no surprise that Murray and Mattek-Sands enjoyed the majority of the support.

Murray won his opening service game with two aces, but Mattek-Sands was broken twice in the first set. Rosolska and Mektic went for big returns, denying Murray the chance to make an impact at the net, while the Pole and the Croatian both held their serves without too much difficulty. The final game of the opening set went to a deciding point, but Mektic won it with a smash.

When Murray served at 2-2 and 0-30 in the second set it seemed that the match might be slipping away, but Mektic missed what should have been an easy forehand and the Scot went on to hold his serve.

Nikola Mektic and Alicja Rosolska pushed the eventual champions all the way (Getty Images)

When Rosolska served at 3-4 the Pole was finally broken as Mattek-Sands thundered a return straight at Mektic, who missed his volley. Murray served out for the set, though the last game again went to a deciding point, which the Scot won with an excellent volley.

In the deciding tie-break Rosolska and Mektic went 4-1 up, but Murray and Mektic responded superbly, winning six points in a row. The Scot and the American went 9-6 up, only to fail to take their first three match points. At 9-9, however, Mektic missed a return and on the fourth match point Murray hit a volley winner.

“I got a little emotional out there,” Mattek-Sands said afterwards. “I’ve had an amazing team supporting me all the way through. I’ve gone from not being able to get myself out of bed last year to playing this final.

“I don’t care what anyone tells you. Whether you’re too old, you’re too young, you’re too big or you’re too small, you haven’t had enough opportunities or you’re still waiting for yours, you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Go out there and choose your attitude. Choose happiness every day, no matter what, and big things will happen.”

Normally one of the most bubbly characters in the game, Mattek-Sands added with a laugh: “That’s as serious as I’m going to get.”