Murray/Venus Rally In Dallas For First Team Title

Dallas Open/Alex Smith

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus began their partnership this year. On Sunday, they stepped into the winners' circle together for the first time.

The top seeds rallied past second seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 1-6, 7-6(4), 10-7 to win the Dallas Open for their first title as a team.

“Obviously it’s great, we just started the year and as a new partnership you want to spend as much time on the court together [as possible],” Venus said. “So, to be able to do it in matches, I think that’s great, because that’s where you learn the most about each other.

“We had some tough matches here, and just really happy to get the title.” 

Murray and Venus were in danger of losing a straightforward encounter when serving at 3-4, 0/40 in the second set. But they managed to hold firm under pressure to escape. That allowed them to then win the second-set tie-break and the ensuing Match Tie-break.

“We had a great week, obviously. To win the tournament, not easy, we had to battle a lot,” Murray said. “Especially today we went down really hard in the first set… But I think we stayed calm and kind of committed to what we were trying to do out there and worked our way into the match. Had a good hold half-way through the set at 0/40, which probably would have been curtains for us.

“But as that set went on we got stronger and stronger, and we played a really solid tie-break, so super happy with how it turned out.” 

Murray is now a 28-time tour-level titlist and has earned at least one crown in 11 consecutive seasons. Venus, an 18-time tour-level champion, has now earned glory in nine straight years.

This was the pair's second final of the year after reaching the championship match at the Adelaide International 1. They will try to maintain their momentum next week at the Delray Beach Open, where they are the second seeds.