Serve lets Jamie Murray down as his Open ends

Jamie Murray's Australian Open came to a disappointing end yesterday as he and his partner, Xavier Malisse, were beaten 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 by Janko Tipsarevic and Bjorn Phau in the second round. A set to the good and playing well, the Scots-Belgian pairing let their advantage slip away as Murray's serve stated to falter.

"I didn't serve particularly well towards the end and it cost us," said Murray. "I guess we let a good chance slip away. It was looking like we were going to get it done and then it just didn't happen for us. I'm pretty disappointed, to be honest."

That disappointment ought not to last too long, though. After slipping back to 64 in the world rankings at the start of the year, the 90 points he gained in two rounds in Melbourne will push him back up to around the 57 mark when the new list is published in a week's time. And in February he will team up with his brother to play in the Rotterdam tournament which will provide him with a perfect opportunity to push his ranking on even further. The last time the brothers played together, they won the title in Valencia at the end of last year.

"I'm looking forward to it," Murray said. "I just want to keep working, keep trying to improve. I want to try and get to the level where I can try and play in Masters Series tournaments again. Maybe with Andy being so highly ranked, he can help me out in some of them."