Serena, Andy form mixed doubles dream team at Wimbledon

On the eve of the mixed doubles draw at the All England Club, Andy Murray and Serena Williams sent the tennis world into a frenzy on Tuesday by formally announcing their intent to team up.

Five months removed from hip surgery and just weeks since returning to the ATP tour by playing men’s doubles at the Fever-Tree Championships, Murray has been looking for a mixed-doubles partner to play with on the London grass for the better part of two weeks. He even admitted that he was struggling to find one, triggering a bunch of WTA stars to throw their hat in the ring, including Maria Sharapova.

I heard @andy_murray was looking for a mixed dubs partner. Thanks @usopen for sending in my resume today 😂 https://t.co/ug6ES2m7X5

— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) June 21, 2019

But this past weekend, things really picked up when the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion put it out there that she might be interested in teaming up with Murray. « I’m available, » Serena said. « I’m feeling better now, so I’m definitely available…if you guys really want it, then maybe I’ll do it.”

Upon hearing Serena’s interest, the two-time Wimbledon champion was obviously excited at the prospect of teaming up with one of tennis’ greats. « I mean, obviously she’s arguably the best player ever, » said the 32 year old from Glascow this weekend. « It would be a pretty solid partner. »

Serena’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou even stirred the pot on Twitter this past Saturday by suggesting just how good this mixed-doubles pairing could be.

Nice mixed double team… https://t.co/z8Fe5I44VO

— Patrick Mouratoglou (@pmouratoglou) June 29, 2019

Between the two of them, the pair have won 26 Grand Slam singles titles. Serena has previously played mixed doubles at Wimbledon once before. The 37-year-old won the mixed title at the All England Club with Belarus’ Max Mirnyi in 1998. The American-Belarusian duo also took home the U.S. Open mixed title just a few months later. In just six mixed-doubles appearances at Grand Slams, Serena has reached the final on four occasions.

On top of that, playing with sister Venus, Serena has also collected 14 Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles – including six at Wimbledon.

Now, Murray doesn’t have the same track record that Serena does playing doubles. However, he recently won the doubles title in his comeback at Queen’s Club with Feliciano Lopez. It was his first event since having hip surgery five months ago. He won’t play singles at Wimbledon this year, but on top of mixed doubles, he will compete in the men’s doubles draw alongside France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Per multiple media reports (@BenRothenberg @stu_fraser), Andy Murray has confirmed he will play mixed doubles @wimbledon with Serena Williams.

The mixed doubles draw takes place on Wednesday.

The 2016 #Wimbledon Champs: pic.twitter.com/1k5vIET7Vo

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) July 2, 2019

(Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images)