WIMBLEDON, England — According to the authoritative new book “The Birth of Lawn Tennis” by Bob Everitt and Richard Hillway, when Maj. Walter Clopton Wingfield published the first set of rules for the sport in 1873, the lone illustration showed a mixed doubles match. Men and women playing together, at both recreational and professional levels, has always been a signature of tennis. Other sports are trying to catch up; the 2020 Olympics will feature mixed events added to shooting, table tennis, swimming, track and field and triathlon. Alpine skiing had an Olympic mixed team competition for the first time this year. But in tennis, the mixed competition is stagnant. While mixed doubles is still played at the four Grand Slam events, the format has not been added to any of the many combined ATP-WTA tournaments on tour, despite being added to the Olympic slate in 2012. The Hopman Cup, an event each January in Perth, Australia, is the official mixed event of the International Tennis Federation, but it is set to end after next year to make way for a men’s-only competition. The most telling atrophy of mixed doubles might be seen in the prize money at Grand Slam tournaments. Mixed doubles players have been left behind as singles and doubles players have successfully lobbied for steep increases in prize money.<doc-sep>Last updated on .From the section Tennis Jamie Murray won the Wimbledon mixed doubles in 2017 with Martina Hingis and 2007 alongside Jelena Jankovic Wimbledon 2018 on the BBC Venue: All England Club, Wimbledon Dates: 2-15 July Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs and the BBC Sport website and app; Live Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra commentary; Text commentary online. Britain's Jamie Murray and partner Victoria Azarenka beat Jean-Julien Rojer and Demi Schuurs to reach the Wimbledon mixed doubles semi-finals. Murray and Azarenka, from Belarus, fought back from a set down to win 4-6 7-5 7-5 against the Dutch fourth seeds. They will play British duo Harriet Dart and Jay Clarke in the last four. Dart and Clarke beat 10th seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal of Colombia and American Abigail Spears 7-6 (12-10) 7-5 to secure their last-four place. "Harriet and Jay are on an awesome run and have beaten some good doubles pairs, but it's got to come to an end," Murray said. "I have a few more grey hairs after this match. There were some crazy points, so we did a great job to get through." Murray, 32, won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon last year with now-retired Swiss Martina Hingis. He had initially chosen to miss the mixed event this year to focus on the men's doubles to protect his sore knees. However, the opportunity to partner former world number one and two-time Australian Open winner Azarenka, 28, persuaded him to take part. In the deciding set, Murray and Azarenka were 6-5 up having held serve, but missed four match points on Schuurs' serve. On the fifth occasion, Murray advanced to the net and produced a backhand volley to seal the victory. "We have taken it one match at a time, we have had some tough matches, which has brought us together as pair," Azarenka said. "Jamie stepped it up in the last game because I had chances but kept going in the wrong direction." Brits bow out as Bryan makes final Britain's Dominic Inglot and Croat Franko Skugor lost their men's doubles semi-final in a five-set thriller. The pair battled back from two sets down against American seventh seeds Mike Bryan and Jack Sock but lost the deciding set as they were beaten 6-3 6-1 6-7 (11-13) 6-7 (6-7) 6-4. Bryan was playing men's doubles at Wimbledon for the first time in two decades without twin brother Bob, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a hip injury. The Bryan twins have won Wimbledon three times - in 2006, 2011 and 2013. In the other semi-final Britain's Joe Salisbury and partner Frederik Nielsen of Denmark lost 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-3 6-4 to 13th seeds Michael Venus of New Zealand and Raven Klaasen of South Africa.<doc-sep>Nicole Melichar and Alexander Peya of Austria won their first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. In the mixed doubles' final, the No.11 seeds overcame Belarusian Victoria Azarenka and Great Britain's Jamie Murray 7-6(1) 6-3. Murray, who won the title last year with now retired Swiss Martina Hingis, had initially decided to skip the event but changed his mind as he had the chance to partner former singles number one Azarenka. They saved match point at 5-2 in the second set but lost in the next game. "I didn't really return well enough, didn't feel I served that good either," said Murray. "It's been awesome, we earned it getting to the final. It has been a lot of fun to play with Vika." "It's been a great two weeks" Azarenka admitted. "We came up a little short but we've produced great entertaining tennis," said Azarenka, whose shoe had her son Leo's name on it along with a heart. It's been important for me to play in those situations where the momentum changes a lot of time and figure out a way." Melichar avenged the defeat in the women's doubles title-match partnering Kveta Peschke, as they fell to Czechs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, the third duo to win back to back doubles title at Roland Garros and Wimbledon since 1998, the first since Kim Clijsters and Ai Sugiyama in 2003. Peya, a former Us Open doubles runner-up and Wimbledon mixed doubles finalist, completed his maiden major title of any kind. After four easy holds in the opening games, Murray and Azarenka saved three break points combined but continued to struggle on return as the teams progressed to 4-4. Melichar showed her service skills, while Peya with his quick hands at net maintained the couple largely untroubled, as they lost just a single point out of 24 on their first serves in the opening set. So for just the second time since 1992, the Wimbledon mixed doubles' final began with a first-set tiebreak. Murray started with a wild volley unforced error, gifting Melichar and Peya the chance to dominate and move easily 6-1 up, and completed a disastrous tiebreaker with the most untimely of his double faults. Murray and Azarenka had a tough task to face, as no team since Daniel Nestor and Kiki Mladenovic in 2013 has ever staged a comeback win after losing the first set in a mixed doubles final at Wimbledon. Definitely more consistent, Melichar and Peya completed the sixth straight-sets win in the event's title match at the All England Club. Despite saving three break points with his powerful delivery, Murray got broken as Melichar showed rapid improvements from the baseline. Peya helped the 11th seeds to take a 3-0 lead. Azarenka netted a return and wasted a crucial break point before Melichar put away two consecutive volleys to bring them 4-1 up. Serving at 5-2, Azarenka faced a championship point that Peya wasted slamming a forehand return into the net on his own. But Melichar closed out the final game at love and they could finally lift up the revered trophies.<doc-sep>
Last updated on .From the section Tennis Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka were too good for British youngsters Harriet Dart and Jay Clarke Wimbledon 2018 on the BBC Venue: All England Club, Wimbledon Dates: 2-15 July Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs and the BBC Sport website and app; Live Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra commentary; Text commentary online. Britain's Jamie Murray and his Belarusian partner Victoria Azarenka beat British youngsters Jay Clarke and Harriet Dart to reach the Wimbledon mixed doubles final. Doubles specialist Murray and former singles world number one Azarenka were too strong for Clarke, 19, and Dart, 21, in a 6-2 6-2 win in 55 minutes. Murray, 32, won the mixed doubles title last year with Martina Hingis. They will face Alexander Peya and Nicole Melichar in Sunday's final. 'We are having fun' Murray had initially chosen to miss the mixed event this year to focus on the men's doubles to protect his sore knees. But the opportunity to partner two-time Australian Open singles champion Azarenka, 28, persuaded him to take part. He and partner Bruno Soares were beaten in the quarter-finals and while he admitted to feeling down after that, the mixed doubles has brought him plenty of smiles. They broke in the third and seventh games in both sets against Dart and Clarke, sealing the first set with an Azarenka ace and later serving out the match with ease. For Azarenka, who has not played as much tennis as she has wanted because of a custody battle over her 18-month-old son, it has given her extra court time after defeat in the second round of the women's singles. Inspired to play tennis? Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide. "It's been great, after not playing for so long to go through these emotions again is what I needed," she said. "[Murray] didn't have to sell [the opportunity to play] to me, you can tell we are having fun." Despite the fact that he is the defending champion, Murray said there was more pressure on him to "come up trumps" because Azarenka won Olympic gold on these courts in the mixed doubles at London 2012. She and partner Max Mirnyi beat Murray's brother Andy and Laura Robson in the final.