JAMIE MURRAY missed out on the chance on making British sporting history as he lost the Australian Open mixed doubles final.
Close to midnight in Melbourne, Murray and American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands lost 5-7 6-4 10-1 to the Croatian-Czech duo of Nikola Mektic and Barbora Krejcikova on the Rod Laver Arena.
If Murray had won this title in Melbourne, then he would have lifted an eighth Grand Slam title.
And that would have made him the most successful Brit in terms of majors in the Open era.
Instead, he will remain stuck on seven titles along with Virginia Wade until at least the French Open or Wimbledon.
Murray, 33, said: Congratulations to Nikola and Barbora on a great tournament.
We fought as hard as we can, but we came up short. Thanks for sticking around.
It was a fun atmosphere. Thanks Beth for being a great partner.
We have had a lot of success but also a lot of fun and hopefully that continues. We will try to come back next year and win.
There was still a healthy crowd for the start of the match even though it came after the conclusion of the womens singles final.
Mattek-Sands hit a superb winner to claim the first set, which had started with Murray being broken in his opening service game.
Yet the Anglo-American pair, the reigning US Open champions, were unable to build on that breakthrough as they surrendered the second set.
And in the third set Champions tie-breaker, they were smashed 10-1 by the No.5 seeds.
