Jamie Murray will be taking on a new job in the British grass-court season.
Jamie Murray has landed a new role in British tennis as the tournament director of the cinch Championships. The former world No 1 in doubles, who is also brother to Andy Murray, will take charge of the ATP 500 event at London’s Queen’s Club which is staged in the lead-up to Wimbledon. The 37-year-old is not giving up his career for the job and will continue to play on the tour.
The LTA announced on Wednesday that the elder Murray brother would begin his role as the Queen’s tournament director in 2024. It means that the world No 16 will no longer compete in the event, or in the week prior so that he can finalise preparations.
“It’s a real honour to be given this opportunity by the LTA, to work on such a prestigious and well-regarded tournament with the event team during the year, supporting the development and growth of the cinch Championships,” the seven-time doubles Grand Slam champion said.
“As most people know I have a genuine interest in the events side of the business having started as a Tournament Director of the Murray Trophy and most recently organising Battle of the Brits in ensuring the best possible experience for the players and fans who attend.”
The cinch Championships is one of the key grass-court tournaments staged in the lead-up to Wimbledon, with world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz lifting the title earlier this year. Jamie Murray himself won the doubles event at Queen’s alongside Bruno Soares back in 2017 while his brother Andy has picked up the trophy in both singles and doubles.
The younger Murray brother has five singles titles at the ATP 500 event and, alongside Feliciano Lopez, won the doubles crown in 2019 in what was his first tournament back from hip resurfacing surgery. Jamie has already staged a series of successful exhibition tournaments in the UK – the Battle of the Brits.
But his role at the cinch Championships will be his first role at an official tour-level event. LTA Director of Digital and Events, Chris Pollard said: “We are delighted to welcome Jamie into the Tournament Director role at Queen’s. Jamie has shown huge passion and aptitude for running tennis tournaments over the past few years and his knowledge of playing at the very highest level on the ATP Tour for almost two decades, will help ensure the cinch Championships remains one of the most prestigious and highly-rated tournaments in the world.”
Jamie isn’t the first top British player to take on a tournament director role with the LTA, as former world No 27 Laura Robson took charge of the Rothesay Open in Nottingham this year.
Pollard added: “We believe it’s important to give British players the opportunity to develop their careers off-court as well as on, which is why we’re pleased that Jamie will be joining Laura Robson in that capacity. Finally we are especially proud of the fact that all our WTA events in Britain are now overseen by women.”
The 2024 cinch Championships will take place from June 17 to 23 with the qualifying event staged on June 15 and 16.
