John Friends and Rinky Hijikata have drawn high-profile British pair Andy and Jamie Murray within the opening spherical of the Wimbledon 2024 males’s doubles competitors.
London, Nice Britain, 1 July 2024 | Leigh Rogers> READ: 9 Australians to contest doubles at Wimbledon 2024
Friends, a former world No.2, is unnerved about dealing with the Murray brothers in entrance of their residence crowd.
“We all know there’s not going to be many in our nook, we’ll have our field supporting us and that’s about it,” Friends stated.
“However on the finish of the day, we play tennis for the challenges and the love of it. We’re going to have the ability to look again and say we performed in opposition to the Murrays at Wimbledon, in all probability in opposition to a full British crowd, which will probably be thrilling. It’s going to be nice.”
World No.55 Friends as soon as loved a fruitful partnership with Jamie Murray, a former world No.1 and seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion. They had been Wimbledon finalists in 2015 and received six ATP doubles titles as a staff between 2013 and 2015.
“I do know them each very nicely,” Friends stated of his relationship with the Murray brothers. “Jamie and I performed collectively for 3 years and I obtained to know Andy very well as nicely. If you’ve been on tour this lengthy, you turn into buddies with plenty of the blokes.”
Though Friends is teaming up with 23-year-old Hijikata for the primary time, their affiliation stretches again a number of years too.
“I’ve been capable of assist Rinky a bit bit and get to know him as he’s come up the ranks,” Friends stated of his accomplice, who’s 12 years his junior and likewise performed US faculty tennis earlier than turning skilled.
“He was a part of one of many Davis Cup ties (in 2021) as an orange boy serving to out the staff, so I obtained to know Rinky then. To have the ability to get on the identical facet of the online now’s actually one thing particular.
“I imply, he received the Aussie Open a few years in the past (with Jason Kubler in 2023) and has been enjoying some unbelievable tennis, so it’s going to be actually thrilling to play collectively. Rinky and I are pumped and searching ahead to the problem and pleasure of all of it.”
> READ: Australian males set 39-year Grand Slam-first at Wimbledon 2024
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