Heather Watson to face Jamie Murray in Wimbledon mixed doubles final

Watson and Henri Kontinen ground their way through their semi-final while Martina Hingis and Murray skipped through their own

Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen beat second seeds Bruno Soares and Elena Vesnina (Getty)

There will be an all-British, or at least half-British, mixed doubles final at Wimbledon on Sunday. Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen will face Jamie Murray and Martina Hingis in a final that will delight the Centre Court crowd.

Both pairs continued to play entertaining and winning doubles tennis in their semi-finals on Friday evening, Watson and Kontinen grinding their way through their game while Hingis and Murray skipped through their own in half the time.

For Hingis, 20 years on from her first singles title here, it was a delight to still be out there playing so well. “When you play tennis like that on Centre Court it is pure joy,” she smiled afterwards. “When I play with Jamie, it clicks, which is cool.” The pair have only been playing together for weeks but you would not know that from their easy understanding together.

Last year Hingis was playing doubles with Leander Paes, with whom she won the 2015 mixed doubles title, but they were beaten by Watson and Kontinen in the third round, on the way to their winning the title.

Watson and Kontinen have been just as good this year as last year, but they had to work ferociously hard here, missing a match point in the second set before finally winning it in the third. The first set had been trotting along with serve before Watson broke it open, earning the crucial break to go 5-4 up before Kontinen’s serve gave the half-home pair the one-set lead.

The second set was an absolute treat. The pairs were so well-matched that every point went on and on and on, and so did every game. There was barely a game that did not go to deuce a few times and Watson and Kontinen were frustrated by their inability to take enough of the many break points they earned.

So it went to a tie-break, where Kontinen’s powerful serve earned a match point but Watson skewed her return wide, and Vesnina’s winner won the set for her pair.

So Watson and Kontinen had to grind it out and when they finally got their break points in the third set they did not make the mistake as in the second. Watson’s winner gave them a 3-1 lead. Then they ground out a crucial hold. Serving for the match, Kontinen and Watson wasted a second match point, long after their first, but when Soares could not return Kontinen’s serve, they were through.

Hingis and Murray have formed an understanding (Getty)

While Watson and Kontinen’s game was a two-hour epic, Murray and Hingis’ was the opposite. They were, in truth, no match for Marcelo Demoliner and Maria Martinez Sanchez. They started 45 minutes after Watson and Kontinen, but finished 20 minutes sooner. “We played some amazing tennis today,” Murray smiled afterwards, “there is a lot of fun to be had out there.”

It was clear from the very start Murray and Hingis, with their mixture of individual skill, experience and doubles nous, were just too good for their opponents. They started the first set by breaking, holding, breaking and then holding again. From that point on there was only one winner.

Murray and Hingis did, mercifully, allow their opponents to hold their serve twice but soon enough they were wrapping up the set. Murray’s volley earned a set point, his smash clinched it. It was all over in just 21 minutes.

The second set was different, lasting twice as long. Demoliner and Martinez Sanchez put up far more of a fight, holding serve as the set proceeded evenly. But right at the end Hingis earned a break with a return winner, giving her pair the chance to serve for the match. One Hingis’ ace gave them match point, then her powerful serve converted it. They will be back too.