Jamie Murray inspired by Andy Murray work ethic as he seals Australian Open glory

Australian Open doubles champion Jamie Murray admits he has been inspired to buck up his ideas and work harder by his younger brother's success.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares with the doubles trophy. Picture: AP

Jamie sealed his first grand slam men’s doubles title on Saturday as he and partner Bruno Soares beat veterans Radek Stepanek and Daniel Nestor 2-6 6-4 7-5.

The victory adds another trophy to the mixed doubles title he won at Wimbledon in 2007 and continues an impressive 12 months for the Scot, who reached the finals at SW19 and the US Open last year.

Success, however, has not come easy. Three years ago, Murray plummeted to 92nd in the world and he considered giving up the game before turning the tide next to Australian partner John Peers.

It was perhaps no coincidence that as Murray kick-started his career, so Andy flourished in his, winning the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013.

Andy was in the crowd at 1am yesterday to watch the doubles presentation and, after the match, Jamie said he had been inspired by his younger sibling’s success.

“Did it motivate me? I think so. I guess it encourages you, inspires you, when you see all the amazing things he does out on the court for the last ten years,” Murray said. “You see how hard he works to get the results that he has had. It’s kind of told me to kind of get a shift on, put in the time, as well, do what was necessary to try to get the best results for your career.

“When he stops playing, if he stops playing tomorrow, I don’t imagine he’ll have too many regrets. He’s put in so much hard work, which, for me, was probably not the case for quite a long time. Maybe still I could work harder, but we’re on the right track.”

Murray and Soares will split a winners’ cheque of A$635,000, while the Scot is set to climb to No 2 when the latest ATP doubles rankings emerge today.

“I never like to look at the rankings during the tournament,” Murray said. “I was on Twitter yesterday and somebody wrote that if I won I was going to go to No 2. I was a bit kind of like, s***, I just jinxed myself before the match because I really don’t like that.

“Louis [Cayer, his coach] keeps telling me he really believes I can get to one. It’s a process. All the work we’ve done together has always been in a process with a view to getting to No 1. Whether I believed I could do it, I don’t know, but he did. I just did what he told me. And we’re almost there.”

Murray linked up with Soares after splitting with Peers at the end of last season and the pair have enjoyed a brilliant start together, winning a first title in Sydney earlier this month before clinching a second at Melbourne Park.

“I’m not surprised that we clicked so quick,” Soares said. “If you ask me, ‘are you guys going to win your first slam right away?’ I would be a bit surprised with that.

“But I think when you accept a partnership, when he invited me, it’s because I already believed we could do great things. I think we’re on a stage that we’re playing for these tournaments, we’re playing for the big ones. I think we’re both ready and playing on a high level to win the big ones.”